ORTHOMETRY. 


ORTHOMETRY 

Jl  treatise  on 

THE  ART  OF  VERSIFICATION 

AND   THE   TECHNICALITIES   OF 

POETRY 


WITH   A    NEW   AND   COMPLETE 

RHYMING  DICTIONARY 


R.    F.    BREWER,    B.A. 

AUTHOR  OF  "  MANUAL  OF  ENGLISH  PROSODY. 


JLantran : 
CHARLES   WILLIAM   DEACON   &    CO. 


1893 


^Entered  at  Stationers' 


PREFACE. 


THE  chief  aim  of  this  book  is  to  instruct.  Those 
for  whose  use  it  is  primarily  designed,  form  that 
large  and  increasing  number  of  the  youth  of  both 
sexes,  whose  cultivated  taste  leads  them  to  the 
study  of  our  poets,  and  often,  by  original  verse- 
making,  to  their  imitation. 

Although  numerous  works  on  Versification  have 
been  published  of  late  years,  the  subject  is  treated 
in  them,  for  the  most  part,  in  fragmentary  fashion, 
rather  than  as  a  complete  whole.  Canons  are  laid 
down  without  adequate  illustration,  and  generally 
with  no  discussion  of  principles.  Other  works, 
again,  are  too  scholarly  for  general  use,  and  are, 
in  some  cases,  devoted  to  the  elaboration  of  a  pet 
theory.  No  one  work,  as  far  as  I  am  aware,  has  yet 
been  issued  which  embraces  full  and  accurate  infor- 
mation respecting  the  technicalities  of  poetry  ana 
verse-making,  such  as  the  student  requires  ;  and  to 
obtain  which  he  has  hitherto  had  to  search  through 
a  number  of  separate  authors. 


Vlll  PREFACE. 

In  the  preparation  of  this  book,  to  impart  sound 
and  useful  knowledge  has  been  the  aim  rather  than 
to  parade  originality,  and  therefore  I  have  not 
scrupled,  in  some  eases,  to  avail  myself  of  the  views, 
and  even  the  expressions,  of  previous  writers  on 
the  subject,  whenever  they  seemed  best  suited  to 
the  purpose.  Clear  and  simple  exposition,  logical 
arrangement,  and  copious  illustration  have  been 
used  throughout,  while  the  student's  interest  in  the 
subject  is  stimulated  and  increased  by  the  intrinsic 
beauty  of  the  selected  examples. 

Publishers  of  books  and  editors  of  serial  literature 
have  just  cause  of  complaint  at  the  onerous  labour 
imposed  upon  them  by  the  perusal  of  the  mass  of 
poetical  composition  continually  submitted  to  them. 
The  general  public  has  no  conception  of  the  enor- 
mous quantity  of  material  of  this  kind  which  is 
sentenced  to  oblivion  every  year  by  the  high  priests 
and  princes  of  the  Fourth  Estate  of  the  Realm, 
largely  on  account  of  the  ignorance  of  the  first 
principles  of  Orthometry  displayed  by  the  writers. 
If  it  were  fully  realised  that  the  only  sure  passport 
to  success  is  good  work,  this  common  dream  of  strug- 
gling into  print  by  clinging  to  those  whose  very 
position  compels  them  to  sift  the  golden  grain  from 
the  chaff,  would  cease  to  cause  bitter  disappoint- 
ment. Indeed,  the  various  agencies  which  profess 
to  introduce  amateur  writers  to  the  notice  of  editors 
and  publishers  can  exist  only  by  reason  of  an 


PREFACE.  ix 

almost  incredible  amount  of  ignorance,  in  this 
respect,  on  the  part  of  the  public. 

It  can  hardly  be  doubted  that  a  correct  knowledge 
of  metrical  laws,  and  the  relative  bearings  and 
soundings  of  poetic  breadth  and  depth,  such  as  a 
careful  perusal  of  a  work  of  this  kind  affords,  would 
tend  to  minimise  this  waste  of  effort,  by  diminish- 
ing the  output,  and  improving  the  quality.  It 
would,  at  least,  accustom  the  beginner  to  the 
proper  use  of  his  feet  before  trusting  himself  to 
untried  wings.  As  many  an  amateur  actor  has 
aspired  to  the  role  of  Hamlet  as  his  maiden  effort, 
so  the  youthful  poet  oft  dashes  into  the  composition 
of  an  epic  at  the  first  motive  impulse  of  the  Muses. 
A  preliminary  course  of  Orthometry  would  doubt- 
less save  him  a  world  of  disappointment,  by  induc- 
ing him  to  try  his  'prentice  hand  upon  a  ballad, 
say,  a  rondeau,  or  a  sonnet.  While  it  is  not  given 
to  more  than  a  dozen  men  in  a  century  to  create  a 
poem  that  will  live  ages  after  them,  pleasing  and 
graceful  verses  may  be  produced  by  anyone  who 
has  the  requisite  taste,  knowledge,  and  patience. 

Again,  I  venture  to  look  forward  with  expectancy 
to  a  more  widespread  appreciation  of  literary 
excellence  in  the  near  future.  Culture  is  no  longer 
the  privilege  of  the  wealthy.  The  study  of  our 
poets  has  now  happily  obtained  a  footing  in  the 
curriculum  of  nearly  all  our  public  schools  and 
colleges ;  while  the  millions  who  attend  our  elemen- 


X  PREFACE. 

tary  schools  have  suitable  poetic  passages  indelibly 
impressed  upon  their  memory  in  youth.  All  but 
pessimists  anticipate  the  good  results  of  this  early 
training  upon  the  tastes  and  recreative  pleasures 
of  young  England  of  the  twentieth  century.  The 
horizon  is  already  aglow,  here  and  there,  with 
promising  indications  of  a  brighter  day.  I  fully 
trust  and  believe  that  this  universal  acquaintance 
in  early  life,  be  it  ever  so  superficial,  with  noble 
thoughts  and  generous  sentiments,  clothed  in 
choice  language,  will  contribute  in  no  small  degree 
to  the  moral  and  intellectual  development  of  the 
young  democracy. 

If  by  this  treatise  I  have  assisted,  even  to  a  slight 
degree,  in  the  formation  of  a  truer  conception  of 
good  verse,  fostered  a  liking  for  poetry  generally, 
and  enabled  those  who  possess  natural  gifts  for 
poetical  composition  to  overcome  the  initial 
difficulties  presented  by  the  technicalities  of  their 
art,  this  i  labour  of  love  '  will  not  have  been  in 
vain. 

I  have  now  only  to  express  my  indebtedness  to 
Mr.  Robert  D.  Blackman  for  his  many  valuable 
suggestions  embodied  in  the  work. 

R.  F.  B. 


TABLE   OF   CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

POETRY  AND  PROSE         .       .       .       .       .  i 

KINDS  OF  POETRY     .  6 

(1)  LYRIC  POETRY 7 

(tt)  The  Ode      ....  -7 

(1))  The  Ballad 8 

(t)  The  Hymn  and  Song  . 

(<l)  The  Elegy 8 

(2)  EPIC  OR  HEROIC  POETRY          .  .9 
0)  DRAMATIC  POETRY     ....                 .10 

(4)  DESCRIPTIVE  POETRY  .     14 

(5)  DIDACTIC  POETRY       .  ;    14 

(6)  THE  SONNET        ...  .        .     15 

(7)  THE  EPIGRAM      ...  .15 

KLKMENTARY  PARTS  OF  ENGLISH  VERSE        .    16 
(i)  SOUNDS .16 

(a)  Consonants          .  .         .     17 

(b)  Vowels 17 

(c)  Diphthongs 17 


Xll  TABLE   OF  CONTENTS. 

PAtlK 

(2)  SYLLABLES    ........     20 

(a)  Accent          .......     21 

(b)  Quantity       ....  .     22 


(a)  Dissyllabic  .......     27 

(b)  Trisyllabic  .......     28 

MEASURES  OF  VERSE      ......    30 

(ij  IAMBIC  MEASURE        ......    30 

(a)  Iambic  Monometer      .....     31 

(b}  Iambic  Dimeter  ......     32 

(c)  Iambic  Trimeter  ...  .     33 

(d)  Iambic  Tetrameter      ...  -34 

(e)  Iambic  Pentameter     .         .         .         .         •     3^ 
(/)  Iambic  Hexameter      .....     37 
(g}  Iambic  Heptameter     .         .         .         .         -38 
(//)  Iambic  Octameter       .....     39 

(2)  TROCHAIC  MEASURE  .....    40 

(a)  Trochaic  Monometer  .          .          .          .          .40 

(b)  Trochaic  Dimeter        .....     40 

(c)  Trochaic  Trimeter       .         .         .         .         •     -1- 

(d)  Trochaic  Tetrameter   .....     43 
(t')  Trochaic  Pentameter  .          .          .          •     -J5 
(f}  Trochaic  Hexameter  .         .         .         .46 
(g)  Trochaic  Heptameter          .         .         .         .46 
(//)  Trochaic  Octameter    .....     46 

(3)  ANAPESTIC  MEASURE          .....    47 

(4)  DACTYLIC  MEASURE    ......    51 

MIXED  METRES  ......  .    56 


TABLE   OF  CONTENTS.  Xlll 

PACK 

COMBINATION  OF  VERSES 67 

(1)  CONTINUOUS  VERSE 67 

(2)  STANZATC  VERSE 68 

(a)  Stanzas  of  Two  Verses       .  .  .  .68 

(b)  Stanzas  of  Three  Verses     .  .  .  .69 

(c)  Stanzas  of  Four  Verses       .  .  .  .     71 

(d)  Stanzas  of  Five  Verses       .  .  .  -74 
(  e  )  Stanzas  of  Six  Verses         .  .  .  .76 
(f]  Stanzas  of  Seven  Verses     .  .  .  .78 
(^)  Stanzas  of  Eight  Verses     .  .  .  .81 
(h)  Stanzas  of  Nine  Verses      .  .  .  -85 
(  i )  Stanzas  of  Ten  Verses        .  .  .  .88 
(y)  Stanzas  of  Eleven  Verses  .  .  .  -91 
(/')  Stanzas  of  Twelve  Verses  .  .  .  .92 
(  /  )  Stanzas  of  more  than  Twelve  Verses  .     94 
(;;/)  Irregular  Stanzas 98 

POETIC  LICENCES 102 

(1)  GRAMMATICAL  LICENCES 103 

(a)  Ellipsis       .                           ....   103 
(b}  Pleonasm 104 

(c)  Enallage     .         .         .         .         .         .         .   104 

(d)  Hyperbaton 105 

(e)  Anacoluthon 105 

(2)  ORTHOGRAPHICAL  LICENCES      .        .        .        .106 

(#  )  Elision        .......   106 

(b}  Prosthesis .   106 

(c)  Paragoge 106 

(d]  Synaeresis 106 

( <?)  Diaeresis 107 

(/")  Tmesis       .         .         .         .         .         .         .107 


xiv  TABLE   OF  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

(3)  METRICAL  LICENCES 122 

POETIC  PAUSES 138 

(1)  FINAL  PAUSE .  139 

(2)  CESURAL  PAUSE 139 

RHYME .146 

(1)  GOOD  AND  PERFECT  RHYMES    .        .        .  .  147 

(2)  IMPERFECT  RHYMES  ...  .150 

(3)  BAD  RHYMES .156 

(4)  DOUBLE  AND  TRIPLE  RHYMES  .        .  .158 

Examples  of  Whimsical  Rhymes       .         .         .161 

(5)  FAULTS  IN  RHYMING 164 

(6)  ARRANGEMENT  OF  RHYMES       .        .        .        .172 

ALLITERATION 175 

BLANK  VERSE 184 

(1)  LICENCES 185 

(2)  EPIC  OR  HEROIC  BLANK  VERSE       .  .187 

Milton .187 

(3)  DRAMATIC  BLANK  VERSE  .        .        .  .196 

Shakspere          .  .196 

THE  SONNET 203 

THE  SONG     .       . 216 

(1)  THE  SACRED  SONG  OR  HYMN    .        .        .        .221 

(2)  THE  PATRIOTIC  AND  WAR  SONG      .        .        .222 

(3)  THE  LOVE  SONG         .  .224 

(4)  THE  CONVIVIAL  SONG        .        .  .        .224 


TABLE   OF  CONTENTS.  XV 

PAOB 

(5)  THE  POLITICAL  SONG 225 

Sentimental  Song,  Ballad          «...  225 
Oratorio,  Opera,  Cantata 226 

POETIC  TRIFLES 228 

EXAMPLES  OF  VERS  DE  SOCIKTE       .        .        .231 

(1)  THE  BALLADE 240 

(2)  THE  RONDEL-- 243 

(3)  THE  RONDEAU  ....          .  245 

(4)  THE  ROUNDEL .247 

(5)  THE  SESTINA 249 

(6)  THE  TRIOLET       .        .        .        .        .        .        .250 

(7)  THE   VlLLANELLE 251 

DEVELOPMENT  OF  VERSIFICATION       .       .       .254 

CLASSICAL  METRES 264 

(1)  HEXAMETERS        ...  ...  266 

(2)  PENTAMETERS 266 

(3)  SAPPHICS 267 

(4)  ALCAICS        .  .  268 

IMITATIVE  HARMONY 269 

BIBLIOGRAPHY- 
WORKS  ON  VERSIFICATION 280 

DICTIONARY  OF   RHYMES    .       .       .       .  299 


ORTHOMETRY 


POETRY    AND    PROSE. 

POETRY  differs  from  prose  mainly  in  the  fact  that 
the  words  of  the  former  are  arranged  upon  a  definite 
principle  of  order  as  to  their  sound.  This  principle 
has  not  been  the  .same  at  all  times  and  in  all  lan- 
guages. Amongst  the  Greeks  and  Romans  it  was 
based  upon  quantity ',  i.e.  the  time  occupied  in  pro- 
nouncing the  syllables,  those  that  are  long  taking  up 
twice  as  much  time  as  those  that  are  short.  In  our 
own  poetry  the  principle  of  arrangement  is  the  regu- 
lar recurrence  of  accented  and  unaccented  syllables; 
the  stress  of  the  voice  in  uttering  the  accented  ones 
occurring  as  regularly  as  the  beats  of  the  pulse  or  the 
ticks  of  a  watch.  The  undulation  of  sound  produced 
by  this  continuous  flow  of  accents  and  non-accents 
is  known  as  rhythm,  and  this  it  is  which  constitutes 
the  essential  difference  between  poetry  and  prose. 
Other  elements,  such  as  rhyme  and  alliteration,  are 
employed,  in  some  kinds  of  poetry,  in  the  way  of 
embellishment  and  aid  to  the  rhythm,  but  they 
are  not  of  its  essence,  for  the  larger  part  and  the 

B 


2  OR  THOME  TRY. 

highest  achievements   of  our  poets  are  constructed 
without  them. 

The  words  of  Dr.  Guest  may  appropriately  be 
quoted  here.*  He  says  :  "  Rhythm  in  its  widest 
sense  may  be  defined  as  the  law  of  succession.  It 
is  the  regulating  principle  of  every  whole  that  is 
made  up  of  proportionate  parts,  and  is  as  necessary 
to  the  regulation  of  motion,  or  to  the  arrangement 
of  matter,  as  to  the  orderly  succession  of  sounds. 
By  applying  it  to  the  first  of  these  purposes  we 
have  obtained  the  dance,  and  sculpture  and  archi- 
tecture are  the  results  of  its  application  to  the 
second.  The  rhythmical  arrangement  of  sounds 
not  articulated  produces  music,  while  from  the  like 
arrangement  of  articulate  sounds  we  get  the 
cadences  of  prose  and  the  measures  of  verse. 
Verse  may  be  defined  as  the  succession  of  articulate 
sounds,  regulated  by  a  rhythm  so  definite  that  we 
can  readily  form  the  results  which  flow  from  its 
application.  Rhythm  is  also  met  with  in  prose, 
but  in  the  latter  its  range  is  so  wide  that  we  rarely 
can  anticipate  its  flow,  while  the  pleasure  we  derive 
from  verse  is  founded  on  this  very  anticipation. 
As  verse  consists  mainly  of  the  arrangement  of 
certain  sounds  according  to  a  certain  rhythm, 
it  is  obvious  that  neither  poetry  nor  even  sense 
can  be  essential  to  it.  We  may  be  alive  to  the 
beauty  of  a  foreign  rhythm  though  we  do  not 
understand  the  language,  and  the  burden  of  many 
an  English  song  has  long  yielded  a  certain  plea- 

*  Dr.  Guest's  "  History  of  English  Rhythms.' 


POETRY  AXD   PROSE.  3 

sure   though  every  whit  as  unmeaning  as  the  non- 
sense verses  of  the  schoolboy." 

Besides  this  fundamental  distinction  between 
poetry  and  prose,  which  is  all  we  are  concerned 
with  in  dealing  with  versification,  it  seems  desirable 
to  trace  briefly  the  lines  that  separate  them  still 
further.  Without  attempting  the  hazardous  task 
of  formulating  a  definition  of  poetry,  we  may  say 
that,  in  its  widest  sense,  poetry  is  creation  or 
invention  of  ideal  beauty.*  Macaulay  says  of  it : 
"  By  poetry  we  mean  the  art  of  employing  words 
in  such  a  manner  as  to  produce  illusion  on  the 
imagination — the  art  of  doing  by  words  what  the 
painter  dots  by  means  of  colours." 

Poetry  is  one  of  the  Fine  Arts ;  it  is  indeed  the 
queen  of  the  Nine  Sisters  of  the  fabled  family  of 
the  Muses  ;  her  children  are  the  myriad  forms  of 
the  beautiful  in  sentiment  and  emotion  which  are 
scattered  through  the  world's  literatures.  It  is  the 
result  "  of  a  divinely  bestowed  faculty  operating 
upon  the  infinite  resources  of  nature,  creating  new 
forms  of  the  beautiful  by  combinations  of  existing 
materials,  through  the  aid  of  the  imagination." 

The  poet's  eye,  in  fine  frenzy  rolling-, 

Doth  glance  from  heaven  to  earth,  from  eartli  to  heaven  ; 

And,  as  imagination  bodies  forth 

The  forms  of  things  unknown,  the  poet's  pen 

Turns  them  to  shapes,  and  gives  to  airy  nothing1 

A  local  habitation  and  a  name. 


*  The  Greek  word  for  it  is  derived  from  the  verb  to  make,  as  the 
French  equivalent  is  from  to  find ;  and  in  Lowland  Scotch  the  poet  is 

still  a  maker. 


4  ORTHOMETRY. 

In  this  broad  signification  poetry  is  to  be  found 
embodied  in  the  higher  forms  of  prose  quite  as 
much  as  in  verse.  Creations  of  ideal  grace  and  love- 
liness abound  in  amorphous  prose,  but  as  in  that 
shape  their  dress  lacks  the  wavy  flow  of  rhythm, 
the  designation  of  poetry  is  denied  them.  Fre- 
quently in  impassioned  prose  there  is,  indeed,  a 
perceptible  rhythm  which  approaches  very  nearly 
the  measured  movement  of  verse.  Many  passages 
from  George  Eliot,  Dickens,  and  Ruskin,  for  in- 
stance, not  to  mention  others  of  the  skilled  masters 
in  word-painting,  might  well  be  arranged  as  poetic 
lines.  Yet,  as  metrical  rules  have  not  been  observed 
in  them  throughout,  as  the  cadences  cease  abruptly, 
they  cannot  be  dignified  by  the  name  of  poetry. 
The  poet  must  always  conform  to  metrical  laws, 
while  his  brother  artist  only  occasionally  falls  under 
their  seductive  influence. 

Again,  the  two  forms  of  literary  composition 
differ  with  respect  to  their  object ;  prose  seeks  for 
the  most  part  to  instruct,  \vhereas  the  aim  of  the 
poet  is  to  give  pleasure.  And  here  again  we  find 
the  two  frequently  running  upon  parallel  lines,  the 
fictions  of  romance  and  the  creations  of  the  poet 
showing  a  marked  family  likeness  which  the  pre- 
sence or  absence  of  rhythmical  arrangement  alone 
can  differentiate. 

In  addition  to  these  distinctions  of  form,  matter, 
and  aim,  the  style  and  diction  of  poetry  differs  in 
many  respects  from  that  of  prose.  Poetry  should 
be  "  simple,  sensuous,  and  passionate/'  said  Milton  ; 
hence  it  chooses  picturesque  images  and  quaint 


POETRY  AND  PROSE.  5 

words  and  epithets  that  would  be  out  of  place  in 
prosaic  description.  Metaphors,  similes,  and  indeed 
all  the  rhetorical  figures  of  speech  are  freely  used 
to  variegate  the  conventionalities  of  everyday  ex- 
pressions, as  the  many-coloured  blossoms  of  spring 
do  the  all-pervading  sombre  tints  of  winter.  There 
are  many  words  protected  by  poetic  association 
from  vulgar  use,  such  as  :  woe,  tre,  blissful,  a-wc<jn\ 
haply,  list,  ken,  iiictJiinks,  morn  and  cue,  thou  and  yc 
for  you.  Striking  epithets  and  picturesque  com- 
pounds such  as  those  that  follow  would  disfigure 
good  prose,  while  in  verse  they  are  pleasing  and 
natural :  sea-girt  isle,  vasty  deep,  the  breezy  blue,  nir- 
built  castles,  rosy- fingered  dawn,  the  iron  tongue  of 
midnight.  The  poetic  sentence  is  nervous,  terse, 
and  euphonious,  and  every  kind  of  inversion, 
elision,  and  departure  from  ordinary  rule  is  tolerated 
in  order  to  make  it  so.  Though  bound  to  be  musi- 
cal, and  to  excite  pleasure,  the  poet  is  a  chartered 
libertine  in  most  other  respects. 

In  spite  of  the  freedom  of  treatment  necessary  in 
dramatic  composition,  Shakspere  maintains  a 
clear  distinction  between  poetry  and  prose.  His 
servants  and  jesters  always  speak  prose,  and  others 
also  in  light  conversation,  but  the  language  of 
emotion  and  passion  is  invariably  metrical.  Brutus 
commences  his  famous  speech  to  the  populace  after 
the  murder  of  Csesar  in  plain,  direct  prose  ;  but  as 
soon  as  he  begins  to  declaim  and  appeal  to  the 
feelings  of  his  hearers,  his  words  run  into  verse. 
The  eloquent  art  of  Antony's  speech  is  metrical 
throughout. 


KINDS    OF    POETRY. 

THE  earliest  compositions  in  all  languages  were 
metrical.  Long  before  the  art  of  writing  was 
invented,  rude  songs  of  war  and  love  and  hymns 
to  the  gods  were  composed  in  some  rude  form  of 
measure  or  jingle  -that  was  catching  to  the  ear, 
and  handed  down  by  tradition.  We  find  bards  or 
poets  amongst  all  nations  when  emerging  from  a 
state  of  barbarism,  whose  duty  it  was  to  sing  those 
traditional  odes  on  great  national,  religious  and 
athletic  festivals,  and  to  celebrate  the  achieve- 
ments of  their  own  heroes  and  the  stirring  events 
of  the  day  in  original  compositions.  In  course  of 
time  these  rude  lyrical  pieces  were  collected  and 
committed  to  writing,  with  narrative  verses  inter 
spersed,  in  order  to  give  a  unity  to  the  collection  ; 
hence,  in  broad  outline,  the  origin  of  the  Epic 
poem.  On  national  annual  holidays  the  celebra- 
tion of  the  deeds  of  past  heroes  in  song,  as  well  as 
the  chanting  of  hymns  to  the  gods,  formed  the 
chief  feature  of  public  gatherings.  A  rude  stage 
was  erected,  and  performers,  fantastically  dressed, 
and  made  up  in  some  cases  to  heroic  pro- 
portions, chanted  these  national  odes  in  chorus. 
Gradually,  in  order  to  vary  the  entertainments, 


KINDS   OF  POETRY. 


soliloquies  and  dialogues   were   introduced  ;    here 
we  have  the  dawn  of  the  drama. 

The  different   kinds    of  poetry    may   be   briefly 
considered  under  the  following  heads  : — 


i.— LYRIC    POETRY. 

This  is  so  called,  because  it  was  originally 
intended  to  be  sung  and  accompanied  on  the  lyre. 
We  find  some  early  specimens  of  it  in  the  Old 
Testament,  such  as  Miriam  and  Deborah's  songs, 
and  David's  elegy  on  Saul  and  Jonathan.  Lyric 
poetry  comprehends  several  different  kinds. 

(a}.  THE  ODE. 

Ode  is  from  a  Greek  word  meaning  song.  The 
term  ode,  though  generic,  is  restricted  to  lyrical 
compositions  of  some  length  and  generally  of 
complexity  of  structure,  corresponding  in  some 
degree  to  the  typical  form  of  the  Greek  choral 
odes.  These  consisted  of  irregular  stanzas, 
arranged  in  groups  of  three  ;  the  strophe  to  be 
chanted  by  one  half  of  the  singers,  the  antistrophe 
by  the  other  half,  and  the  epode  by  the  whole.  In 
our  own  language  we  have  odes  written  upon  a 
variety  of  subjects,  heroic,  sacred,  moral,  and  amor- 
ous. Gray  has  composed  some  fine  examples, 
adhering  in  one  case  strictly  to  the  Greek  model ; 
but  perhaps  the  finest  specimen  we  have  is  Dry- 
den's  Alexander  s  Feast.  Collins,  Campbell,  Shelley, 
Wordsworth,  and  Tennyson  have  produced  almost 


8  ORTHOMETRY. 

equally   noted   poems    of   this    class,   but  modern 
poets  rarely  adopt  this  form. 

(b).  THE  BALLAD. 

Ballads  are  distinguished  from  songs  proper  by 
the  fact  of  their  containing  a  narrative.  Love. and 
war  are  the  two  chief  topics  of  our  ballad  literature, 
while  pathos  and  humour  also  furnish  abundant 
material  for  these  stories  in  verse.  Chevy  Chase, 
the  Robin  Hood  ballads,  John  Gilpin,  Lord  Ullin's 
Daughter,  Lncy  Gray,  Ben  Battle,  Nancy  Bell,  may 
be  mentioned  as  typical  specimens. 

(<;).  THE  HYMN  AND  SONG. 

The  only  difference  between  these  is  that  the 
former  is  always  upon  some  sacred  subject.  Each 
is  generally  nothing  more  than  the  expression  of 
some  single  sentiment,  or  the  elaboration  of  some 
one  feeling.  Ken,  Heber,  Watts,  Cowper,  Wesley, 
and  Kebie  are  the  authors  of  some  of  our  most 
beautiful  hymns,  while  to  enumerate  our  song- 
writers would  be  to  name  nearly  every  one  of  our 
poets.  Nothing  has  surpassed  the  sweet  melodic 
charm  of  the  lyrics  of  the  Shakspere — Milton 
period  of  our  literature,  though  perhaps  Burns 
and  Moore,  as  song- writers,  may  be  mentioned  as 
approaching  very  nearly  the  same  excellence.* 

(d\  THE  ELEGY. 

This  differs  from  other  odes  in  that  its  subject  is 
always  mournful  and  its  construction  generally 

*  For  fuller  particulars  on  this  subject,  see  p.  217. 


A'/.\DS   OF  POETR  Y.  9 

more  regular.  Milton's  Lycidas,  Gray's  Elegy 
written  in  a  Country  Churchyard,  Collins's  Dirge  in 
Cymbcline,  Burns's  Man  was  made  to  Mourn,  and 
Tennyson's  ///  Mcmoriam  are  the  finest  specimens 
we  have.* 

2.— EPIC    OR    HEROIC    POETRY. 

This  term  is  applied  only  to  great  and  lengthy 
narrative  poems,  in  which  the  dramatic  element 
is  also  introduced  in  the  form  of  impassioned 
harangues,  detailing  some  important  national 
enterprise  or  the  adventures  of  a  distinguished 
hero.  Homer's  Iliad  and  Odyssey,  Virgil's  <s£neid, 
Dante's  Inferno  and  Paradiso,  Tasso's  Jerusalem 
Delivered^  Camoens's  Lusiad,  and  Milton's  Paradise 
Lost  and  Regained,  stand  at  the  head  of  this  species 
of  poetry  as  the  Classical  Epics. 

Scarcely  inferior  to  these,  and  differing  from 
them  only  in  the  fact  that  they  depict  less 
dignified  undertakings,  and  which  are  fictitious, 
come  such  poems  as  Ariosto's  Orlando  Furioso, 
Spenser's  Faerie  Qucenc,  and  Tennyson's  Idylls  of 
the  King,  These  may  be  classed  under  this  head 
as  Romantic  Epics.  Byron's  Childe  Harold  may 
be  included  in  the  same  category  preferably  to 
being  considered  a  purely  descriptive  poem. 

Another  subdivision  of  poems  of  this  class, 
but  with  still  less  of  the  heroic  element  in  them, 
may,  for  want  of  a  more  suitable  name,  be  grouped 

*  The  reader  is  referred  to  Palgrave's  "Golden  Treasury  of  the  Best 
Songs  and  Lyrical  Poems  in  the  English  Language." 


!0  ORTHOMETRY. 

together  as  Poetical  Romances.  Scott's  Marmion 
and  Lady  of  the  Lake,  Moore's  Lalla  Rookh,  Byron's 
Don  Juan,  Coleridge's  Chrtstabel,  and  Tennyson's 
Enoch  Arden  are  of  this  kind;  and  if  we  allow 
the  burlesque  element  to  be  added,  such  poems 
as  Butler's  Hudibras  and  Burns's  Tarn  O'Shantcr 
would  be  included. 


3.— DRAMATIC  POETRY. 

"The  very  purpose  of  playing,  both  at  the  first  and  no\v, 
was,  and  is,  to  hold,  as  'twere,  the  mirror  up  to  nature  ;  to 
show  virtue  her  own  feature,  scorn  her  own  image,  and  the 
very  age  and  body  of  the  time  his  form  and  pressure." 

Shakspere. 

The  word  drama  means  action,  and  the  terrn 
dramatic  poetry  is  applied  to  that  species  of  com- 
position which  is  made  up  of  dialogue,  and  which 
is,  for  the  most  part,  intended  to  be  acted.  All 
poems,  however,  which  are  thrown  into  the 
dramatic  form,  are  not  intended,  or  are  not  suited, 
to  dramatic  representation — e.g.  Bailey's  Festus, 
Taylor's  Philip  Van  Artevelde,  Byron's  Man  f red ^ 
could  not  be  so  produced  intact  ;  and  many 
of  the  plays  of  Shakspere  are  more  suited  to 
study  than  the  stage,  and  require  grievous  hacking 
before  they  can  be  adapted  to  the  requirements 
of  the  stage  carpenter. 

For  the  origin  of  the  drama  we  must  look  to 
ancient  Greece  ;  there,  we  have  seen  above,  the  germ 
of  the  theatre  arose  out  of  the  national  custom 
of  singing  odes  in  praise  of  gods  and  heroes  on  fes- 
tive occasions,  speech  and  action  being  gradually 


KINDS   OF  POETRY.  II 

introduced  for  variety  and  broadened  require- 
ments. 

The  word  Tragedy  (literally  the  goat-song)  takes 
its  name  from  the  fact  that  the  actors  who  sang  and 
danced  at  these  entertainments  were  dressed  as 
satyrs.  Comedy  (a  festive  or  rural  song)  was  origi- 
nally applied  to  the  coarse,  ccmic  verses,  mixed 
with  extempore  witticisms,  which  were  indulged  in 
by  bands  of  revellers  at  harvest  homes  and  vintage 
festivities.  In  course  of  time  men  of  genius  began 
to  avail  themselves  of  the  opportunities  which  the 
recital  of  these  crude  verses  afforded,  and  which  no 
other  species  of  composition  then  presented  for 
national  instruction,  and  we  soon  find  plays  more 
regularly  constructed  and  based  upon  an  organised 
plot.  Under  y^Eschylus,  Sophocles,  Euripides,  and 
Aristophanes,  the  drama  was  rapidly  developed 
and  elaborated  to  its  utmost  perfection.  Tragedy 
was  intended  to  excite  the  patriotic  and  heroic  feel- 
ings of  the  audience,  and  to  arouse  its  sympathy 
and  pity  for  devotion  and  suffering  virtue.  Comedy, 
by  its  ridicule,  turned  the  laugh  of  the  hearers 
against  the  foibles  and  vice  s  of  tli3  time.  The 
difference  between  a  Greek  play  and  a  modern  one 
will  be  clearly  seen  by  comparing  Milton's  Samson 
Agonistes,  which  is  constructed  upon  the  classic 
model,  with  any  of  Shakspere's  plays. 

The  English  Drama,  or,  as  it  is  called,  the  Gothic, 
to  distinguish  it  from  the  classic  drama,  came  into 
existence  about  the  latter  half  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury. It  grew  out  of  the  crude  Mysteries,  or  miracle 
plays,  and  Moralities,  or  moral  plays,  which  we  find 


12  ORTHOME1RY. 

regularly  represented  at  holiday  times  throughout 
Christendom  about  the  end  of  the  Middle  Ages. 
They  were  produced  all  over  Europe  under  the  direc- 
tion of  the  clergy  as  aids  to  religious  and  moral  in- 
struction. We  see  their  survival  down  to  the  present 
day  in  the  triennial  representation  of  the  Passion 
Play  in  the  Bavarian  village  of  Ober  Ammergau. 
The  former  were  coarse,  and,  to  us,  profane  bur- 
lesques of  Scripture  narratives,  the  Deity  Himself 
being  frequently  introduced;  the  latter  consisted  of 
quaint,  comical  dialogues,  and  frequently  of  furious 
disputes  between  characters  personating  abstract 
virtues  and  vices,  the  devil  being  the  most  impor- 
tant personage,  as  he  always  overcame  the  vices, 
and  carried  them  off  in  triumph  on  his  back  or  in 
a  wheel-barrow  at  the  finish. 

Inter  hides  occupy  an  intermediate  place  between 
the  Moralities  and  the  regular  Comedy,  as  charac- 
ters drawn  from  life  were  introduced.  Heywood's 
Four  f's,  which  we  should  consider  a  broad  farce 
at  the  present  day,  may  be  taken  as  a  fair  specimen. 
The  first  comedy  was  Ralph  Roister  Doistcr,  written 
by  NicholasUdall,  master  of  Eton,  about  1550,  which 
was  modelled  after  the  Comedies  of  Terence;  and  this 
was  followed  a  year  or  twro  later  by  Gammer  Gur- 
tons  Needle,  the  work  of  John  Still,  bishop  of  Bath 
and  Wells.  The  earliest  known  tragedy  in  English 
was  GorbudoCy  or  Ferrexand  Porrex,  the  joint  compo- 
sition of  Norton  and  Lord  Buckhurst,  which  was 
represented  in  1562,  before  Queen  Elizabeth,  at 
Whitehall.  Within  an  amazing  short  time  after  this, 
Peele,  Greene,  Marlowe,  and  others,  produced  a 


KINDS   OF  POETRY.  13 

large  number  of  dramas,  the  tragedies  of  the  last- 
named,  in  particular,  being  hardly  inferior  to  his 
great  successor's  early  efforts;  and  by  1590  Shakspere 
himself  was  at  work  as  a  playwright,  and  by  him 
the  drama  was  raised  to  the  highest  excellence  ever 
attained. 

In  the  Classic  Drama  (and  the  French  theatre  is 
constructed  upon  that  model)  what  are  called  the 
Unities  are  preserved,  i.e.  a  unity  in  time  and  place 
and  dramatic  action.  This  means  that  the  scenes 
portrayed  should  occur  in  about  the  same  time  that 
is  occupied  in  Acting  them  on  the  stage,  and  in  the 
same  immediate  neighbourhood,  and  that  the  tragic 
and  comic  elements  be  kept  quite  distinct.  A 
tragedy  must  be  tragic  throughout,  and  a  comedy 
more  or  less  amusing  throughout.  These  arbitrary 
and  artificial  limitations  our  great  master  of  dra- 
matic art  declined  to  conform  to;  he  depicted  human 
nature  as  it  is,  and  drew  his  characters  with  realis- 
tic truth  from  the  living  world  around  him,  in  which 
the  sad  and  the  joyous  are  ever  found  inextricably 
blended.  The  Tempest  and  the  Comedy  of  Errors 
are  the  only  plays  in  which  the  unity  of  time  and 
place  is  preserved.  Several  of  his  comedies  present 
a  continuous  panorama  of  happy,  buoyant  life  ;  but 
in  all  his  great  tragedies  the  humorous  is  constantly 
found  mingled  with  the  dark  and  suffering  side  of 
humanity.  The  only  distinction  that  can  .be  drawn 
between  his  tragedies  and  comedies  is  that  the 
former  have  mournful  terminations,  while  the  latter 
end  happily. 


14  OR  THOME  TRY. 

4.— DESCRIPTIVE  POETRY. 

Description  enters  into  every  kind  of  poetical 
composition,  but  there  are  some  poems  almost 
wholly  of  that  kind.  To  this  class  belong  Drayton's 
Pofyot&io7i,  Pope's  Windsor  Forest,  Denham's  Cooper  s 
Hill,  Thomson's  Seasons,  Goldsmith's  Traveller  and 
Deserted  Village,  &c.  Perhaps  the  choicest  speci- 
mens in  the  language  are  Milton's  U Allegro  and 
//  Pcnscroso. 

Pastoral  is  a  species  of  descriptive  poetry.  It 
consists  of  descriptions  of  rural  life  and  scenery,  of 
the  simplicity  and  loves  of  shepherd  swains  and 
village  maids.  It  is  rarely  attempted  by  modern 
poets,  perhaps  because  much  of  the  charm  and 
simplicity  of  country  life  has  disappeared  before 
the  manifold  invasions  of  commercial  enterprise. 
Shenstone's  Pastoral  Ballad  and  Allan  Ramsay's 
Gentle  Shepherd  are  typical  examples. 


5.— DIDACTIC  POETRY. 

Under  this  head  are  included  all  poems  the  prime 
object  of  which,  distinct  from  the  conveyance  of 
pleasure,  is  to  instruct,  whether  in  arts,  morals,  or 
philosophy.  Tasso's  Hundred  Points  of  Good  Hiis- 
bandrie,  Armstrong's  Art  .of  Preserving  Health, 
Pope's  Essay  on  Criticism  and  Essay  on  Man, 
Young's  Night  Thoughts,  Blair's  Grave,  Akenside's 
Pleasures  of  tJie  Imagination,  and  most  of  CowTper's 
poems  are  of  this  class.  The  finest  didactic  poem 
in  English  is  Wordsworth's  Excursion. 

Satirical  poetry  is   a  species  of  didactic,  as  its 


A'LVDS   OF  POETRY.  15 

object  is  to  improve  manners  and  promote  virtue 
by  depicting  vice  in  its  true  colours,  and  by  holding1 
up  to  ridicule  hypocrisy  and  cant.  Dryden,  Pope, 
Butler,  Dean  Swift,  Burns,  Byron,  Tom  Hood,  and 
Robert  Buchanan  are  our  most  famous  satirists  in 
verse. 

6.— THE  SONNET. 
(See  page  203.^ 

7.— THE   EPIGRAM. 

This  is  a  short  poem  on  some  single  thought, 
brevity  and  wit  being  its  essentials,  the  point 
generally  coming  at  the  end,  e.g.  : 

On  an  M.P.  who  wrote  a  severe  critique  oil  "  The  Pleasures 

of  Memory." 

They  say  he  has  no  heart,  but  I  deny  it ; 
He  has  a  heart — and  gets  his  speeches  by  it, 

On  a  Ciwate 's  J'^yes. 
My  daughters  praise  our  curate's  eyes — 

I  know  not  if  their  light's  divine, 
For  when  he  prays  he  closes  his, 

And  when  he  preaches  I  shut  mine. 

The  Epitaph  is  a  species  of  epigram,  designed 
to  eulogise  or  satirise  some  defunct  individual,  and 
as  the  name  implies  is  supposed  to  be  inscribed  on 
his  tomb,  e.g.  : 

Here  lie  the  bones  of  Robert  Lowe, 
Where  he's  gone  to  1  don't  know  ; 
If  to  the  realms  of  peace  and  love, 
Farewell  to  happiness  above  ; 
If  haply  to  some  lower  level, 
We  can't  congratulate  the  devil 


ELEMENTARY  PARTS  OF  ENGLISH 
VERSE. 

THE  elements  of  verse  are  syllables^  which  grouped 
together  in  twos  or  threes  form  fecf,  and  these  in 
combination  form  verses  or  lines.  As  verses  are 
made  for  articulate  utterance,  their  effect  on  the  ear 
is  of  the  first  importance,  and  to  produce  a  good 
effect  the  smallest  parts  which  enter  into  their  com- 
position should  receive  attention.  The  elementary 
sounds  of  the  language,  therefore,  claim  our  first 
consideration  as  to  whether  they  are  rough  or 
smooth,  easy  or  difficult  in  utterance,  and  in  combi- 
nation with  other  sounds.  And  thus  we  are  called 
upon  to  review  in  brief  the  defects  and  anomalies 
of  our  alphabet. 

i.— SOUNDS. 

The  spoken  alphabet  of  English  consists  of  forty- 
five  sounds,  to  represent  which  we  have  only  twenty- 
six  written  characters  or  letters,  and  of  these  three, 
viz.  Cy  <7,  and  x  are  redundant.  The  deficiency  is  made 
up  by  making  one  letter  stand  for  several  different 
sounds,  and  by  giving  combinations  of  letters  only 
one  sound.  Without  going  into  details  which  are 
foreign  to  our  purpose  here,  we  will  reproduce  first 


ELEMENTS   OF   VERSE. 


Mr.  Morris's  list  of  Elementary  Sounds  in  the  English 
spoken  Alphabet. 


(a)  Consonants. 

i 

b      9 

m 

J7 

y 

2 

d     10 

n 

18   !  z 

3 

t     ii 

P 

J9 

ch 

4 

g        12 

r 

20 

th  (bathe) 

5 

h     13 

s 

21 

th  (bath) 

6 

J     H 

t 

22 

zh  (azure) 

7 

k     15 

V 

23 

sh  (sure) 

8 

1      16 

w 

24 

hw  (what) 

To  these  should  be  added  the  nasal  7/^and  the  aspirate  //. 


(b)  Vowels. 

25 

a 

in  gnat 

32 

e 

in  meet 

26 

a 

pair,  ware 

33 

i 

,,   knit 

27 

a 

fame, 

34 

0 

,,   not 

28 

a 

father 

35 

o 

,,    note 

29 

a 

all 

36 

00 

,,    foot,  rule 

30 

a 

want 

37 

00 

,,   wood,  put 

31 

e 

met 

38 

u 

,,    nut 

(c)  Diphthongs. 

39 

i 

in 

high 

40 

i 

,, 

aye 

41 

01 

., 

boil 

42 

ow 

,, 

how,  bound 

43 

eu 

» 

new 

1 8  ORTHOMETRY. 

The  sounds  of  the  vc^vels  and  diphthongs  are  pro- 
duced by  the  uninterrupted  passage  of  the  breath 
through  the  open  mouth,  and  the  predominance  of 
these  sounds  renders  speech  easy  and  musical.  The 
consonant  sounds  are  the  result  of  the  more  or  less 
complete  stoppage  of  the  breath  in  utterance  by  the 
partial  or  entire  closing  of  the  air  passage  by  one  or 
other  of  the  organs  of  speech,  and  it  is  the  degree  cf 
effort  to  produce  these  imperfect  sounds*  that  causes 
that  harshness  and  roughness  which  renders  speech 
difficult  and  unmusical.  We  will  next  present  an 
arrangement  of  the  consonants  which  exhibits  them 
in  what  may  be  regarded  as  the  order  of  their  dis- 
cordance. 

The  liquids,  /,  m,  n,  ry  easily  combine  with  other 
sounds. 

The  sibillanfs,  s,  z,/,  x,  vp,  s/i,  z/i,  have  varying 
degrees  of  a  disagreeable  hiss. 

The  mutes  are  the  most  difficult  of  all  in  utter- 
ance, as  they  completely  close  the  air  passage. 
They  are  classed  according  to  the  organ  of  speech 
by  which  they  are  produced  into — 

Labials  (lip  sounds)^,  b,  /,  v. 
Dentals  (tooth  sounds)  /,  d,  th,  dh. 
Gutturals  (throat  sounds)  k,  g: 

It  may  here  be  pointed  out  that  the  rules  of  Eng- 
lish prosody  and  rhyme  are  not  applicable  to  the 
language  as  it  appears  in  writing,  but  as  it  is  heard 
in  pronunciation.  Our  language  so  considered  is 
not  inferior  to  others  ;  its  elementary  sounds,  both 


ELEMENTS   OF   VERSE.  19 

in  variety   and   number,   are    adequate  to    all  our 
occasions. 

All  the  elements  enumerated  above  have  their 
distinguishing  qualities  of  smooth,  rough,  soft, 
strong,  close,  open,  clear,  obscure,  and  others,  by 
which  they  give  a  corresponding  character  to  the 
sound  of  a  verse,  and  furnish  opportunities  of 
assimilating  sound  to  sense  of  which  our  poets 
have  freely 'availed  themselves.*  The  comparison 
between  the  English  tongue  and  others,  as  to 
metrical  elements,  given  in  the  following  passage, 
will,  perhaps,  entertain  the  reader.  It  is  taken 
from  Steele's  "Prosodia  Rationalis,"  page  168. 
<c  In  English  the  proportion  of  monosyllables  to 
polysyllables  is  more  than  as  five  to  two  ;  in  French, 
something  less  than  as  three  to  two  ;  but  in  Italian, 
which,  having  more  vowels,  has  less  occasion  for 
monosyllables,  their  proportion  to  polysyllables  is 
not  quite  three  to  four,  or  one  and  a  half  to  two. 
The  superior  melody  of  one  language  over  another 
will  be  nearly  in  proportion  as  one  exceeds  the  other 
in  the  number  of  vowel  sounds.  The  number  of  vowel 
and  consonantal  sounds  in  Italian  is  nearly  equal ; 
in  Latin,  five  consonants  to  four  vowels  ;  in  French, 
supposing  the  orthography  not  as  written,  but  as 
sounded  in  pronunciation,  the  consonantal  to  the 
vocal  sounds  are  as  four  to  three  ;  and  in  English, 
in  the  like  manner,  the  proportion  is  three  to  two. 
Therefore,  in  this  view,  the  French  has  an  advan- 
tage over  the  English  in  the  proportion  of  nine  to 
eight;  but  this  is  overbalanced  by  the  English 

*  See  "  Imitative  Harmony,"  p.  269. 


20  ORTHOMETRY. 

advantage  in  its  monosyllables,  which  it  has  more 
than  the  French  in  the  proportion  of  five  to  three." 
No  single  element  in  a  man's  native  tongue  is 
of  difficult  pronunciation  to  him  whose  organs  of 
speech  are  naturally  perfect ;  in  a  foreign  language 
there  may  be  such,  as  the  Welsh  and  German 
gutturals,  and  the  French  u,  to  an  Englishman. 
But  there  are  various  combinations,  either  difficult 
to  utter,  or  unpleasant  to  hear,  and  others  again 
of  an  opposite  character,  with  all  of  which  it  is 
useful  for  every  writer  to  be  acquainted.  The 
maker  of  verse,  who  has  command  of  his  language, 
will  not  feel  himself  much  cramped  by  these  com- 
binations ;  some  few  there  may  be  wrhich  are  un- 
manageable :  such  is  that  made  by  the  second  per- 
son singular  of  the  past  tense,  in  verbs  ending  with 
a  double  consonant :  as  touch,  touchedst.* 

Let  it  not  be  thought.degrading  to  any  composer 
of  English  verse  to  attend  to  the  power  and  effect 
of  these  elementary  sounds,  since  Bacon  has  recom- 
mended an  inquiry  into  the  nature  of  language 
for  purposes  of  the  same  kind,  nor  accounted  it 
beneath  him  to  record  in  his  works  that  we  cannot 
prononnce  the  letter  t  after  ///,  without  inserting/, 
as  a  circumstance  worthy  of  notice.  Ex.  empty, 
Hampton. 

2.— SYLLABLES. 

A  syllable  is  a  word,  or  a  part  of  a  word,  uttered 
by  one  effort  of  some  of  the  organs  of  speech.  It 
may  be  one  elementary  sound,  or  a  combination 

•    *  See  "  Poetic  Licenses,"  p.  108. 


ELEMENTS   OF   VERSE.  21 

of  several.  Like  its  elements,  it  is  rough,  smooth, 
harsh,  easy,  or  difficult  in  utterance.  But  there 
are  other  qualities  of  syllables  which  claim  our 
special  attention  and  demand  clear  elucidation, 
inasmuch  as  they  constitute  the  very  essence  of 
verse  ;  these  are  accent  and  quantify. 

« 

(a].  ACCENT 

is  a  certain  stress  of  the  voice  upon  a  syllable  in 
pronouncing  it.  Every  word  of  more  than  one 
syllable  has  an  accent  invariably  attached  to  one 
of  its  syllables  which  is  called  the  tonic  accent,  and 
no  word,  however  long,  has  more  than  one  accent, 
e.g.  deplore,  terrible,  elementary.  Monosyllables 
are  accented  or  not  according  to  their  grammatical 
importance  ;  thus  all  nouns,  verbs,  adjectives,  and 
adverbs  are  accented,  while  the  articles,  preposi- 
tions, pronouns  (when  not  emphatic),  and  particles 
are  unaccented.  We  shall  see  as  we  proceed  that 
the  exigencies  of  metre  require  that  metrical  accents 
be  attached  to  syllables  in  verse  in  addition  to  the 
tonic  accent,  and  that  the  stress  occasionally  varies 
in  degree,  e.g.  : 

Sweet  are  the  uses  of  adversity. 

The  precise  nature  of  accent  has  given  rise  to 
diversity  of  opinion;  some  maintaining  that  it  is  an 
alteration  in  ft\s  pitch  of  the  voice,  others  an  increase 
in  loudness  of  tone  ;  we  will  content  ourselves,  how- 
ever, with  regarding  it  as  stress  merely,  as  is  now 
generally  accepted. 


-2  ORTHOMETRY. 

.   QUANTITY 

is  the  time  occupied  in  pronouncing  a  syllable,  one 
/0/*jfsyllabie  being  considered  equivalent  to  two  shcrf 
ones.  This  division  into  two  classes  has  been  deemed 
sufficient  for  all  the  purposes  of  prosody;  though  it  is 
certain  that  in  neither  class  are  the  syllables  all 
equal  among  themselves,  as  will  appear  when  we 
have  stated  what  is  allowed  to  constitute  a  short 
and  a  long  syllable. 

(i)  A  short  vowel  when  alone,  or  when  no  con- 
sonant follows  it,  is  taken  for  a  short  syllable,  as 
the  articles  a,  the. 

ii  A  short  vowel,  when  followed  by  a  single  con- 
sonant, is  a  short  syllable,  as,  man,  pen  ;  or  by  the 
same  consonant  doubled,  as,  manner,  penny. 

(iii)  A  short  vowel,  in  some  cases,  when  followed 
by  two  consonants,  makes  a  short  syllable,  as,  de- 
cline, reprove,  at  last.  For  this  we  have  the  ex- 
ample of  the  ancients  both  in  Greek  and  Latin, 
who  permitted  a  short  vowel  to  stand  for  a  short 
syllable,  though  followed  by  two  consonants,  if  the 
first  was  a  mute  and  the  second  a  liquid.  The 
cause  is  founded  in  nature ;  and  therefore  holds 
with  us ;  it  is,  that  such  a  combination  of  conso- 
nants is  more  readily  pronounced  than  others  are. 

A  syllable  is  long — 

When  it  contains  a  long   vowel,  or  a  diph- 
thong, as,  see,  go,  loud,  jo}*. 

ii)  When  it  consists  of  a  short  vowel  followed 
by  two  different  consonants,  if  they  be  not  a  mute 
and  a  liquid  ;  as,  into,  number.  Such  a  syllable  is 
called  long  by  position. 


ELEMENTS  OF  VERSE.  23 

The  ancients,  by  whose  authority  we  are  guided 
in  this  arrangement  of  syllables,  allowed  a  short 
vowel  before  a  mute  and  liquid,  to  make  the  syllable 
either  short  or  l;>ng  :  in  that  point,  therefore,  they 
fixed  the  boundary  between  them.  The  reason  why 
such  a  syllable  might  be  accounted  short,  was  be- 
cause the  mute  and  liquid  could  be  pronounced  more 
readily  than  two  other  consonants  in  their  place.  It 
follows  then  that  the  same  vowel  before  two  other 
consonants  would  make  a  syllable  requiring  more 
time  in  the  utterance  ;  which,  of  course,  must  be 
ranked  together  with  the  long.  When  it  is  recollected 
that  every  letter  is  formed  by  a  particular  position 
of  (he  organs  of  speech,  and  each  different  letter  by 
a  different  position,  it  is  certain  that  some  time  is 
employed  in  passing  from  one  to  another. 

The  RHYTHM  of  English  verse,  as  has  been  already 
pointed  out,  is  based  upon  accent,  the  measured  un- 
dulation of  accented  and  unaccented  syllables  being 
its  essential  feature,  without  which  it  becomes 
mere  prose.'  On  the  other  hand  the  rhythm  of 
classical  verse  is  based  upon  quantity,  which  in 
Latin  and  Greek  poetry  is  governed  by  much  more 
rigid  laws  than  the  metrical  rules  of  English  verse. 
Much  learned  nonsense  has  been  written  upon  thia 
subject,  and  many  attempts  have  been  made  to  show 
that  quantity  and  not  accent  is  of  the  essence  of 
English  verse,  but  all  recent  scholarship  and 
taste  concur  in  the  view  stated  above  ;  and  we 
may  regard  the  controversy  as  finally  settled.  It 
would  be  almost  equally  wrong,  however,  to  hold 
the  opposite  view,  and  regard  quantity  as  having 


24  ORTHOMETRY. 

no  bearing  upon  our  versification.  It  is  an  impor- 
tant aid  to  metrical  perfection,  and  is  sedulously 
cultivated  by  all  our  poets  as  an  embellishment, 
though  not  as  the  foundation  of  rhythm.  Verses 
in  which  the  proportion  of  long  syllables  in  the 
accented  parts  of  the  feet  predominate,  produce 
quite  a  different  melody  from  others  in  which  short 
syllables  obtain.  The  following  extracts  from 
Milton's  L' Allegro  and  //  Penseroso  admirably 
illustrate  this. 

(ij  Long  quantity  predominant — 

Come,  pensive  Nun,  devout  and  pure, 
Sober,  steadfast,  and  demure  ; 
All  in  a  robe  of  darkest  grain, 
Flowing  with  majestic  train, 
And  sable  stole  of  Cyprus  lawn 
Over  thy  decent  shoulders  drawn. 

(ii)  Short  quantity  predominant — 

Hast  thee,  nymph,  and  bring  with  thee 

Jest  and  youthful  jollity. 

*-#•### 

Sport  that  wrinkled  Care  derides, 

And  laughter,  holding  both  his  sides. 

Come  and  trip  it  as  you  go 

On  the  light  fantastic  toe. 

And  in  thy  right  hand  lead  with  thee 

The  mountain  nymph,  sweet  Liberty. 

We   see    then    that  syllables    have    a    fourfold 
difference ;    some   are    long,    either   accented,   as, 


ELEMENTS   OF   VERSE.  25 

holy,  or  unaccented,  as,  consent ;  others  are  short, 
either  accented,  as,  refer,  or  unaccented,  as, 
habit. 

There  are  some  who  will  think  these  observations 
on  quantity  might  have  been  spared,  because  they 
maintain  that  quantity  has  no  concern  whatever 
with  English  versification,  but  that  it  depends  en- 
tirely upon  accent.  Rather  let  it  be  said  that 
quantity  cannot  be  altogether  neglected  without 
manifest  and  great  injury  to  the  verse.  But  if  the 
question  be  put,  whether  verse  cannot  be  composed 
without  any  regard  to  the  quantity  of  syllables,  so 
that  the  accents  be  set  in  their  due  places,  it  is  to 
be  acknowledged  that  it  may.  Still  the  verse  would 
have  juster  measure,  would  sound  better  to  the 
ear,  and  be  much  nearer  to  perfect,  if  the  accented 
syllables  were  long  and  others  short ;  so  that  the 
quantity  and  accent  should  coincide.  Let  us  make 
this  still  clearer  by  an  example — 

The  busy  w^rld  and, what  you  see. 
It  is  a  silly  vanity. 

Of  this  couplet  the  first  line  has  its  accents  regu- 
lar in  place  and  number,  together  with  three  long 
syllables.  The  second  line  is  accented  regularly  as 
to  place,  but  it  contains  only  two  accented  syllables, 
and  not  one  long.  It  cannot  be  denied  that  these 
verses  are  in  true  and  exact  measure  ;  and,  if  accent 
alone  be  requisite,  they  are  in  nothing  defective. 
But  now  let  them  be  altered,  so  as  to  observe 
quantity  as  well  as  accent,  in  this  manner— 


26  OR  THOME  TR  Y. 

The  gaudy  world,  whate'er  you  see, 
Is  all  an  empty  show  to  me. 

It  does  not  require  a  nice  ear  to  perceive  the  differ- 
ence of  these  lines  from  the  former,  nor  any 
great  skill  to  form  a  right  judgment  between  them 
in  respect  of  their  structure,  which  is  the  only 
point,  at  this  time,  under  consideration. 

Regard  to  quantity  is  not  indeed  essential  to 
English  verse  ;  neither  is  symmetry  nor  proportion 
essential  to  a  dwelling-house :  but  to  a  good  dwell- 
ing-house they  are  essential,  and  so  is  regard  to 
quantity  to  good  English  verse. 

This,  however,  was  a  matter  to  which  Pope,  at 
least  in  his  early  life,  appears  to  have  been  insen- 
sible or  inattentive,  if  the  following  anecdote  be 
true.  The  second  line  of  his  first  pastoral  stood 
originally  thus — 

Nor  blush  to  sport  on  Windsor' s  peaceful  plains. 

He  would  have  altered  it  to  happy  ;  but  Walsh 
objected  to  that  correction,  saying  the  quantity 
would  not  then  be  the  same  ;  for  the  first  syllable 
of  happy  was  short;  Pope  therefore  put  blissful* 
Here  are  other  examples  of  the  effect  of  long  sylla- 
bles worthy  of  quotation — 

The  waves  behind  impel  the  waves  before, 
Wide-rolling,  foaming  high,  and  tumbling  on  the  shore. 

Pope. 

*  Boswell  on  Shakspere's  Metre. 


ELEMENTS   OF   VERSE.  27 

Thou  dost  preserve  the  stars  from  wrong  ; 
And  the  most  ancient  heavens  through  thee    are  fresh  and 
strong. 

IVordswortJi. 

3.- FEET. 

The  unit  of  measurement  in  verse  is  a  foot  and 
not  a  syllable.  A  .foot  is  a  group  of  two  or  three 
syllables,  hence  the  division  into  Dissyllabic  and 
Trisyllabic  verse.  The  names  given  to  the  different 
kinds  of  feet  in  English  poetry  are  usually  those  of 
the  classic  metres,  and  the  method  of  marking  the 
accented  and  unaccented  syllables  is  from  the  same 
source.  Many  writers  have  objected  to  this 
system  of  nomenclature  as  liable  to  mislead, 
and  have  invented  other  fanciful  names  in  their 
stead,  but  none  of  these  have  met  with  general  ac- 
ceptation. Throughout  this  treatise,  therefore,  we 
shall  adhere  to  the  old  lines  in  this  respect,  with 
every  confidence  that  no  confusion  can  arise,  since 
the  distinction  between  accent  and  quantity  has 
been  clearly  pointed  out ;  thus  the  usual  marks  for 
long  and  short  (  -  -  )  must  be  taken  to  indicate 
accented  and  unaccented  syllables. 

(a}.  DISSYLLABIC. 

There  are  two  kinds  of  Dissyllabic  feet  of  which 
verse  is  constructed,  viz. :  Iambus  —  - ,  as  despair, 
and  Trochee,  -  ^,  as  temple.  In  addition  to  these 
there  are  two  other  kinds  in  frequent  use  intermixed 
with  the  above,  but  of  which  it  is  impossible  to  con- 
struct verses  entirely:  viz.  Spondee  -,  and 
Pyrrhic  ~  — . 


28  OR  THOME  TRY. 

(b).  TRISYLLABIC. 

Of  Trisyllabic  feet  there  are  also  only  two  kinds 

of  which    whole   poems    are    composed  :    Anapest, 

- ,    as     serenade,    and    Dactyl,  — ,    as 

tremulous.     Another  kind  occasionally  met  with  is 

called  Amphibrach,  —  --  ~. 

We  might  have  omitted  all  mention  of  the  Amphi- 
brach but  for  the  mistake  of  certain  prosodians 
who,  finding  such  a  foot  at  the  end  of  a  verse,  have 
asserted  that  the  same  kind  of  foot  properly  con- 
stituted the  whole  verse,  and  was  the  legitimate 
measure  by  which  it  was  to  be  scanned. 

The  following  line  from  Swift  is  an  example  of  • 
the  measure  in  question  : — 

Because  [  he  has  nev  |  er  a  hand  |  that  is  I  j  die. 


Here,  it  is  true,  the  three  last  syllables  make  the 
foot  termed  Amphibrach,  and  the  whole  line  may 
'be  divided  into  such  feet  as  shown  below — 

Because  he  j  has  never  |  a  hand  that  j  is  Idle  j 

It  is  nevertheless  certain  that  the  line  belongs 
to  verses  of  another  class,  and  is  measurable  by 
anapests,  only  taking  such  a  licence  as  is  always 
allowed  to  anapestic  verses,  viz.  that  the  first  foot 
may  be  truncated  or  curtailed  of  its  first  syllable. 
The  next  line  in  the  poem,  to  describe  it  accurately, 
is  an  anapestic  verse  of  four  feet,  with  a  redundant 
syllable  :— 


ELEMENTS   OF   VERSE.  2 

For  the  right  |  holds  the  sword,  ]  and  the  left  |  holds  the  ' 
brl  I  die. 


So  likewise  is  the  former,  notwithstanding  the 
difference  in  the  firstfoot.  If  the  Amphibrach  had 
been  a  foot  by  which  any  English  verse  ought  to 
be  measured,  there  would  have  been  entire  poems 
in  that  measure,  or,  at  least,  poems  wherein  verses 
of  that  measure  predominate  ;  but  there  are  none 
such,  nor  does  a  Ime,  measurable  by  that  foot,  ever 
occur,  except  accidentally  among  a  much  greater 
number  of  anapestic  ones. 

The  following  table  exhibits  at  a  glance  the 
various  feet  of  which  English  verse  is  composed, 
and  also  those  which  enter  occasionally  of  necessity 
and  for  variety  into  its  construction. 


Name  of  Foot. 

Accents. 

Name  of  Metre. 

Iambus 

Iambic. 

Trochee 

Trochaic. 

Anapest 

Anapestic. 

Dactyl 

Dactylic. 

1  OCCASIONAL  FEET. 
Spondee 
Pyrrhic 
Amphibrach    ^     —     N- 


*  Some  metrists  recognise  another  trisyllabic  foot  occasionally  in 
scanning  blank  verse,  the  Tribrach,  —  —  •— ,  but  this  is  vigorously  con- 
tested by  others, 


MEASURES   OF   VERSE. 

EACH  of  the  four  kinds  of  feet  enumerated  above 
may  be  combined  in  varying  numbers  according 
to  the  taste  and  fancy  of  the  '  maker/  and  the 
requirements  of  the  metrical  effects  sought  to  be 
produced.  The  number  of  feet  in  each  verse  may 
vary  from  one  to  eight,  and  they  are  'generally 
known  as  Monometer,  Dimeter,  &c,,  as  enumerated 
in  the  following  table  : 


(1)  Monometer 

(2)  Dimeter 

(3)  Trimeter 

(4)  Tetrameter 

(5)  Pentameter 

(6)  Hexameter 

(7)  Heptameter 

(8)  Octameter 


verse  of  one  foot, 
verse  of  two  feet, 
verse  of  three  feet. 
verse  of  four  feet, 
verse  of  five  feet, 
verse  of  six  feet, 
verse  of  seven  feet, 
verse  of  eight  feet. 


i.— IAMBIC  MEASURE. 

Most  English  poetry,  probably  as  much  as  five- 
sixths  of  the  whole,  is  in  Iambic  measure.  All 
our  Heroic,  Blank  and  Dramatic  verse,  in  fact  all  the 


MEASURES  OF  VERSE.  31 

lengthy  poems  of  our  tongue  are  of  this  order.  This 
is  no  doubt  due  to  the  structural  peculiarities  of 
our  language.  English,  as  compared  with  other 
tongues,  is  non-inflectional;  there  are  no  case  end- 
ings to  its  nouns,  nor  elaborate  terminations  to  the 
moods  and  tenses  of  its  verbs.  And  although  the 
great  majority  of  words  of  more  than  two  syllables 
have  their  accent  to  the  fore,  the  very  frequent  re- 
currence of  unaccented  articles,  prepositions,  and 
auxiliaries  preceding  the  emphatic  nouns  and  verbs 
tends  to  impart  an  Iambic  measure  to  English 
speech. 

(a).  IAMBIC  MONOMETER. 
Normal  line,   Two  Syllables  —   -  . 

This  measure  is  seldom  used  except  as  furnishing 
refrains  in  lyric  poems.  The  example  quoted  below 
from  Herrick  can  only  be  regarded  as. a  literary 
curiosity. 

She  has  a  bosom  white  as  snow  ; 

Take  care  ! 
She  knows  how  much  it  is  best  to  show  ; 

Beware  ! 
Trust  her  not,  she  is  fooling  thee. 

Longfellow. 

Thus  I 

Pass  by,         : ] 
And  die 
As  one 
Unknown 
And  gone. 


32  ORTHOMETRY. 

I'm  made 
A  shade, 
And  laid 
I'  th'  grave  ; 
There  have 
My  cave, 
Where  tell 
I  dwell. 
Farewell. 

Her  rick. 

All  regular  measures  of  verse,  as  will  be  more 
fully  explained  in  dealing  with  poetical  licence, 
have  occasionally  an  additional  unaccented  syllable 
added.  This  is  usually  called  a  feminine  ending, 
and  the  verse  is  said  to  be  hypermetrical,  e.g.  : 

Hearts  beat  |  ing 
At  meet  |  ing. 
Tears  start  J  ing 
At  part  |  ing. 

(b\  IAMBIC  DIMETER. 
Xormal  line,  Fottr  Syllables  —   -  |  — -  -  . 
This  verse  is  also  too  short  for  whole  poems,  but  is 
freely  introduced  in  odes,  songs,  &c.,  e.g.  : 

With  rav  |  ished  ears 
The  mon  |  arch  hears, 
Assumes  |  the  god, 
Affects  |  the  nod. 

Dry  den. 
If  thou  j  hadst  not 

Been  true  |  to  me, 

But  left  f  me  free, 
I  had  |  forgot 

Myself  |  and  thee. 

Jonson. 


MEASURES   OF  VERSE.  33 

1  feel  |  like  one 

Who  treads  |  alone 
Some  banquet  hall  deserted, 

Whose  lights  |  are  fled, 

Whose  gar  |  lands  dead, 
And  all  but  he  departed. 

Moore. 

The  rag     ing  rocks 
And  shiv  |  'ring  shocks 
Shall  break  |  the  locks 

Of  pri  |  son  gates, 
And  Phib  |  bus'  car 
Shall  shine  |  from  far, 
And  make  |  and  mar 

The  fool  |  ish  fates. 

Shakspere. 
"  Mid-Night's  Dream." 

The  poet  in  a  golden  clime  was  born, 

With  gold  |  en  stars  |  above, 
Dowered  with  the  hate  of  hate,  the  scorn  of  scorn, 

The  love  j  of  love. 

Tennyson. 

In  the  last  example,  from  Tennyson's  The  Poet, 
the  second  verse  is  Iambic  trimeter,  the  fourth 
dimeter. 

(c).  IAMBIC  TRIMETER. 

Normal  li)ic,  Six  Syllables        -  \  —  -  \    -—  -  . 

This  measure  is  greatly  used  by  our  poets  in  the 
composition  of  ballads  and  hymns ;  when  it  is 
attended  with  Iambic  tetrameter  it  constitutes  our 
Ballad  metre  and  the  Common  metre  of  hymns. 

Have"mer  |  cy,  Lord,  |  on  me, 
A£  trTou  |  tfert"ev  |  er  kind ; 
Let  me  opprest  with  loads  of  guilt 
Thy  wont  |  ed  mer  |  cy  find. 


34  OR  THOME  TR  Y. 

Aloft  |  in  aw  [  ful  state 
The  god  [  like  he  |  ro  sate 
On  his  |  imper  |  ial  throne. 

Dry  den. 

The  mon  |  arch  saw  |  and  shook, 
And  bade  j  no  more  [  rejoice  ; 

All  blood  |  less  waxed  |  his  look, 
And  trem  |  ulous  j  his  voice. 

Byron. 

Shakspere  seems  to  have  used  this  measure 
mostly  for  rapid  dialogue  and  retort,  as  in  the 
Ghost-scene  in  Hamlet : — 

Ghost.  To  what  I  shall  unfold. 

Hamlet.  Speak,  I  am  bound  to  hear.* 


(d].  IAMBIC  TETRAMETER. 
Normal  line,  Eight  Syllables  —  —  \  — -    -  I  *- 

This  octosyllabic  measure,  which  is  of  danger- 
ously easy  construction,  and  very  apt  to  degenerate 
into  sing-song,  has  been  largely  used  by  our  poets 
of  later  times.  In  it  are  composed  Butler's  Hudi- 
braSy  Scott's  Marmton,  &c.,  Burns' s  Tarn  O'Shanter, 
Tennyson's  In  Memoriam,  and  numerous  poems 
by  Shelley,  Byron,  Wordsworth,  Coleridge,  &c. 

O  la  |  dy,  twine  j  no  wreath  J  for  me, 
Or  twine  |  it  of  |  the  cy  j  press  tree. 

Scott. 

By  fairy  hands  their  knell  is  rung, 
By  forms  unseen  their  dirge  is  sung ; 

*  Abbott's  "  Shaksperian  Grammar,"  p.  405. 


MEASURES   OF  VERSE.  35 

There  Honour  comes,  a  pilgrim  grey, 
To  bless  the  turf  that  wraps  their  clay  ; 
And  Freedom  shall  a  while  repair, 
And  dwell,  a  weeping  hermit  there. 

Collins. 

Some  have  been  beaten  till  they  know 
What  wood  a  cudgel's  of  by  th'  blow, 
Some  kicked  until  they  can  feel  wheth  J  er 
A  shoe  be  Spanish  or  neat's  leath  |  er. 

Butler. 

So  find  I  every  pleasant  spot 

In  which  we  two  were  wont  to  meet, 
The  field,  the  chamber,  and  the  street, 

For  all  is  dark  where  thou  art  not. 

*  *  * 

Ring  out  the  old,  ring  in  the  new, 
Ring  happy  bells  across  the  snow  ; 
The  year  is  going,  let  him  go  ; 

Ring  out  the  false,  ring  in  the  true. 

Tennyssri* 

"  In  Memoriam." 

Of  the  Ballad  metre,  the  following  examples  will 
suffice : 


They  followed  from  the  snowy  bank 

Those  footmarks  one  by  one, 
Into  the  middle  of  the  plank — 

And  further  there  was  none. 

'Wordsworth. 

I  am  the  Rider  of  the  wind, 

The  Stirrer  of  the  storm  ; 
The  hurricane  I  left  behind 

Is  yet  with  lightning  warm. 

Byron. 


36  ORTHOMETRY. 

(e).  IAMBIC  PENTAMETER. 
Normal  line,  Ten  Syllables 

-    |  ^  --r   i  "V  —  j  ^    ^  |  ^''- '  . 

This  when  rhymed  is  known  as  the  Heroic 
Measure  of  English  poetry.  It  was  much  used  by 
Chaucer,  Dryden,  Pope,  Goldsmith,  Keats,  and 
Southey,  and  is  perhaps  the  most  frequently  used 
of  any  English  metre.  Pope  rendered  it  somewhat 
monotonous  by  over-refinement,  and  by  making  his 
pauses  occur  too  frequently  in  the  middle  of  the 
verse  and  his  sentences  terminate  at  the  end  of 
the  line.  It  is,  however,  a  noble  metre,  and  its 
rhythm  is  capable  of  infinite  variation. 

Great  wits  |  are  sure  |  to  mad  [  ness  near  |  allied, 
And  thin  |  parti  |  tions  do  j  their  bounds     divide. 

Dryden. 

All  nature  is  but  art  unknown  to  thee  ; 

All  chance,  direction  which  thou  canst  not  see  ; 

All  discord,  harmony  not  understood  ; 

All  partial  evil,  universal  good. 

Pope. 

How  commentators  each  dark  passage  shun, 
And  hold  their  farthing  candle  to  the  sun. 

Young. 

And  as  a  child,  when  scaring  sounds  molest, 
Clings  close  and  closer  to  his  mother's  breast, 
So  the  loud  torrent  and  the  whirlwind's  roar 
But  bind  him  to  his  native  mountains  more. 

Goldsmith. 

Four    heroics     rhyming    alternately    form     the 
Elegiac  stanza,  e.g. : 


MEASURES   OF   VERSE.  37 

Full  many  a  gem  of  purest  ray  serene 

The  dark  unfathomed  caves  of  ocean  bear  ; 

Full  many  a  flower  is  born  to  blush  unseen, 
And  waste  its  sweetness  on  the  desert  air. 

Gray. 

Iambic    pentameter     unrhymed    is    the    famous 
Blank  verse  of  literature  (see  page  184). 

(/.}  IAMBIC  HEXAMETER. 
Normal  line,  Twelve  Syllables 


This  measure  has  been  seldom  used  by  our  poets 
since  Drayton  composed  his  Polyolbion  in  it  in 
1  6  TO.  From  an  old  French  poem  written  in  this 
measure  detailing  the  deeds  of  Alexander  the 
Great,  verses  of  this  dimension  are  known  as 
Alexandrines^  and  are  seldom  used  except  with 
pentameters  to  vary  the  monotony  of  their  rhythm. 
A  notable  instance  of  this  is  in  the  use  of  an 
Alexandrine  to  form  the  ninth  line  of  the  Spen- 
serian stanza. 

A  needless  Alexandrine  ends  the  song, 

Which  like  |  a  wound  |  ed  snake  |  drags   its  |  slow  length  | 
along.  Pope. 

An  hundred  valiant  men  had  this  brave  Robin  Hood, 
Still  ready  at  his  call,  that  bowmen  were  right  good, 
All  clad  in  Lincoln  green,  with  caps  of  red  and  blue, 
His  fellow's  winded  horn,  not  one  of  them  but  knew. 

Drayton. 

When  spring  unlocks  the  flowers  to  paint  the  laughing  soil, 
When  summer's  balmy  showers  refresh  the  mower's  toil. 

Heber. 


38  OR  THOME  TR  Y. 

Thou  glorious  mirror,  where  the  Almighty's  form 

Glasses  itself  in  tempests  ;  in  all  time, 
Calm  or  convulsed,  in  breeze,  or  gale,  or  storm, 

Icing-  the  pole,  or  in  the  torrid  clime  ; 
Dark,  heaving,  boundless,  endless,  and  sublime, 
The  image  of  eternity,  the  throne 

Of  the  Invisible  ;  even  from  out  thy  slime 
The  monsters  of  the  deep  are  made  ;  each  zone 
O  |  beys  thee ;     thou  go  |  est  forth,  |  dread,  fath  |  omless,  [ 

alone. 

Byron. 

Note  the  additional  syllable  at  the  beginning  of 
this  last  Alexandrine. 


( g).  IAMBIC  HEPTAMETER. 
Normal  /i/ie,  Fourteen  Syllables 
_   _  i  _  _"  ^   _i^_|v-^_|^_|^_ 

!  I  II  i  I 

The  longest  poems  in  this  measure  is  Chapman's 
translation  of  the  Iliad  ;  Macau  lay's  Lays  of  Ancient 
Rome,  and  Tennyson's  May  Queen,  furnish  recent 
specimens.  The  verses  of  it  are  sometimes  broken 
up  and  printed  in  alternate  four  and  three  feet 
Iambics,  thus  forming  Ballad  metre. 

And  none  |  will  grieve  |  when  I  i  go  forth,  [  or  smile  |  when  I 

return, 

Or  sit  |  beside  j  the  old  j  man's  bed,  |   or  weep  |  upon  ]  his  urn. 

Macaulay. 

There's  not  a  flower  on  all  the  hills  ;  the  frost  is  on  the  pane  ; 
I  only  wish  to  live  till  the  snowdrops  come  again. 
I  wish  the  snow  would  melt,  and  the  sun  come  out  on  high  ; 
I  long  to  see  a  flower  so  before  the  day  I  die. 


MEASURES   OF   VERSE.  39 

No  marvel  that  the  lady  wept,  it  was  the  land  of  France, 
The  chosen  home  of  chivalry,  the  garden  of  romance. 

Bell. 


(//).  IAMBIC  OCTAMETER. 

Normal  line,  Sixteen  Syllables 

-^_l-^  i      -^  |'^X    "—       I     V-*'     —       I    H-»  !>-*-.       I     X— 

11  I  I  I  I  ,.  * 

This  metre  is  very  rare.  Webbe,  in  his  "  Dis- 
course of  Poetry,"  says,  "  The  longest  verse  which 
I  have  seen  used  in  English  consisteth  of  sixteen 
syllables,  each  two  verses  rhyming  together  ;  thus — 

'  V/here  virtue  wants  and  vice  abounds,  there  wealth  is  but  a 

baited  hook, 
To  make  men  swallow  down  their  bane,  before  on  danger  deep 

they  look.'  " 

This  species,  therefore,  did  once  exist,  in  form  and 
show,  as  a  single  verse ;  but,  in  fact,  it  was  two ; 
"  for,"  says  he,  "  it  is  commonly  divided  each  verse 
into  two,  whereof  each  shall  contain  eight  syllables, 
and  rhyme  crosswise,  the  first  to  the  third,  and 
the  second  to  the  fourth,"  forming  the  Long  metre 
of  our  psalms. 

When  in  the  night  I  sleepless  lie, 
My  soul  with  heavenly  thoughts  supply  ; 
Let  no  ill  dreams  disturb  my  rest, 
No  powers  of  darkness  me  molest. 

Ken. 

A  few  modern  specimens  of  it  may  be  seen  in 
the  poems  of  Owen  Meredith. 


40  OR  THOMETR  Y. 

2. -TROCHAIC  MEASURE. 

The  rhythm  of  Trochaic  verse  has  a  distinctive  flow 
from  that  of  Iambic  ;  it  is  more  sprightly  and  lively, 
and  therefore  suited  for  the  dress  of  cheerful  themes 
and  the  description  of  quick-moving  action.  Mil- 
ton's L' Allegro — the  cheerful  man — is  written  for 
the  most  part  in  this  measure,  while  the  sombre  // 
Penseroso  is  mostly  Iambic.  It  is  often  called  the 
Tripping  measure. 

(a).  TROCHAIC  MONOMETER. 
Normal  line,  Two  Syllables  —  —  . 
This  one-foot  verse  is  only  met  with  mixed  with 
longer  verses,  e.g  : 

Crying, 
Sighing, 
Whining, 
Pining, 
Is  the  lover's  part. 

Through  all  the  mazes  of  the  grove, 
Through  all  the  mingling  tracks  I  rove, 
Turning, 
Burning, 
Changing, 
Ranging, 
Full  of  grief  and  full  of  love. 

Addison. 

(b).  TROCHAIC  DIMETER. 
Normal  line,  Four  Syllables  -   —  j  - 

Rich  the  |  treasure, 

Sweet  th6  |  pleasure, 

Sweet  is  pleasure  after  pain. 

Dry  den. 


MEASURES   OF  VERSE.  41 

Hope  is  banished, 
Joys  are  vanished, 
Damon,  my  beloved,  is  gone  ! 

Dry  den. 

It  is  difficult,  if  not  almost  impossible,  to  find 
suitable  specimens  of  exact  verses  in  all  the  tro- 
chaic measures,  because  our  poets  avail  themselves 
so  freely  of  licences.  It  has  been  already  pointed 
out  that  extra  unaccented  syllables  are  frequently 
used  at  the  end  of  a  verse,  making  it  hypermetrical  ; 
it  is  now  necessary  to  add  farther  that  an  additional 
unaccented  syllable  is  allowed  before  the  first  foot  of 
a  trochaic  line,  to  which  the  term  anacrusis  has  been 
applied,  e.g.  : 

The  [  Queen  was  I  In  the"  |  garden. 

Besides  this,  truncated  lines,  as  they  are  called, 
are  frequently  met  with,  i.e.  verses  shorn  of  their 
last  unaccented  syllables,  e.g.  : 

Dreadful  |  gleams, 
Dismal  |  screams, 
Fires  that  |  glow, 
Shrieks  of  |  woe, 
Sullen  |  moans, 
Hollow  I  groans. 

Pope. 

Gray's  Liliputian  ode  is  almost  entirely  in  this 
diminutive  metre. 

In  a  maze, 
Lost,  I  gaze. 
Can  our  eyes 
Reach  thy  size  ? 


•\2  ORTHOMETRY* 

May  my  lays 
Swell  with  praise 
Worthy  thee, 
Worthy  me  ! 

(c).  TROCHAIC  TRIMETER. 
Normal  line,  Six  Syllables  —  —  j 

Xearly  all  verses  in  this  measure  are  truncated 
in  the  last  foot  In  the  annexed  passage  from  The 
Passionate  Pilgrim,  only  the  2nd,  3rd,  and  6th  verses 
are  perfectly  symmetrical. 

Crabbed  |  age  and  |  youth 
Cannot  |  live  to  [  gether  ; 
Youth  is  |  full  of  |  pleasance, 
Age  is  |  full  of  |  care  ; 
Youth  like  |  summer  j  morn, 
Age  like     winter  |  weather  ; 
Youth  like  |  summer  |  brave, 
Age  like  |  winter  j  bare ; 
Youth  is  |  full  of  |  sport, 
Age's  j  breath  is  j  short. 

Shakspere. 

Tennyson's  Aland  furnishes  an  example  of  twenty- 
eight  consecutive  lines  of  the  same  measure  :  — 

Go  not,  happy  day, 

From  the  shining  fields  ; 
Go  not,  happy  day, 

Till  the  maiden  yields. 
Rosy  is  the  west, 

Rosy  is  the  south, 
Rosy  are  her  cheeks, 

And  a  rose  her  mouth. 

Tennyson. 


MEASURES   OF  VERSE.  43 

A  beautiful  combination  of  verses  of  this  kind 
but  slightly  varying  is  seen  in  Shelley's  Prome- 
theus. 

In  the  world  unknown, 
Sleeps  a  voice  unspoken  ; 
By  thy  stop  alone, 
Can  its  rest  be  broken, 
Child  of  ocean  ? 


Again — 


Shelley. 


Now  the  day  is  over, 

Night  is  drawing  nigh  ; 
Shadows  of  the  evening 

Steal  across  the  sky. 

Baring  Goulti. 

Fill  the  bumper  fair  ! 

Every  drop  we  sprinkle 
On  the  brow  of  care 

Smoothes  away  a  wrinkle. 

Moore. 


(d}.  TROCHAIC  TETRAMETER. 

Xoruial  line,  Eight  Syllables   --~-j-— -|-— '(-— -. 

This  measure  is  sufficiently  lengthy  for  contin- 
uous composition,  and  seems  to  be  a  favourite  with 
all  our  mcdern  poets.  Longfellow's  Hiawatha,  a 
poem  of  upwards  of  five  thousand  lines,  is  com- 
posed in  it  in  unrhymed  verse.  Tennyson  and 
Shelley  also  furnish  numerous  examples,  chiefly 
with  symmetrical  and  truncated  verses  inter- 
mingled. 


44  ORTHOMETRY. 

Why  so  |  pale  and  |  wan,  fond  |  lover, 

Prythee,  |  why  so  |  pale  ? 
Will,  if  |  looking  [  well  can't  j  move  her, 

Looking  j  ill  pre  |  vail  ? 

Prythee,  |  why  so  |  pale  ? 

Suckling. 

Thus  it  |  is  our  |  daughters  j  leave  us, 
Those  we  |  love  and  [  those  who  |  love  us ! 
Just  when  |  they  have  |  learned  to  |  help  us, 
When  we  are  |  old  and  |  lean  up  |  on  them, 
Comes  a  youth  with  flaunting  feathers, 
With  a  flute  of  reeds,  a  stranger 
Wanders  piping  through  the  village. 
Beckons  to  the  fairest  maiden, 
And  she  follows  where  he  leads  her, 
Leaving  all  things  for  the  stranger  ! 

Longfellow. 

Though  in  distant  lands  we  sigh, 
Parched  beneath  a  hostile  sky  ; 
Though  the  deep  between  us  rolls, 
Friendship  shall  unite  our  souls ; 
Still  in  fancy's  rich  domain 
Oft  shall  we  three  meet  again. 

Wha  will  be  a  traitor  knave  ? 
Wha  will  fill  a  coward's  grave  ? 
Wha  sae  base  as  be  a  slave  ? 
Traitor  !  coward  !  turn  and  flee  ! 

Burns. 

The  following  quatrains  exhibit  the  four-foot 
line  in  both  its  complete  and  truncated  forms  ;  this 
is  the  8,7  measure  of  our  hymns. 

Lives  of  great  men  all  remind  us  ' 
We  can  make  our  lives  sublime, 

And,  departing,  leave  behind  us 
Footprints  on  the  sands  of  time. 

Longfellow. 


MEASURES   OF  VERSE.  45 

In  her  ear  he  whispers  gaily, 

"  If  my  heart  by  signs  can  tell, 
Maiden,  I  have  watched  thee  daily, 

And  I  think  thou  lov'st  me  well." 

Tennyson. 

Praise  the  Lord  !  ye  heavens  adore  Him  ' 

Praise  Him,  angels,  in  the  height ! 
Sun  and  moon  rejoice  before  Him  ! 

Praise  Him  all  ye  stars  of  night ! 


(e).  TROCHAIC  PENTAMETER. 

Normal  line,  Ten  Syllables 

i  .  I        _  :        _  i        _ 

I  ~         I  -         I   "         I 

Composition  in  this  measure  is  very  rare,  and  even 
when  combined  with  truncated  and  hypermetrical 
verses  it  has  been  but  little  cultivated. 

Spake  full  |  well  m  j  language  |  quaint  and  j  6lde"n, 
One  who  |  dwelleth  j  by  the  j  castled  |  Rhine, 

When  he  |  called  the  |  flowers  so  |  blue  and  |  golden 
Stars  that  |  in  earth's    firma  |  ment  do  |  shine. 

Longfellow. 

What  is  yon  so  white  beside  the  greenwood  ? 
Is  it  snow  or  flight  of  cygnets  resting  ? 
Were  it  snow,  ere  now  it  had  been  melted  ; 
Were  it  swans,  ere  now  the  flock  had  left  us. 

Aytoun. 

Then  methought  I  heard  a  hollow  sound, 
Gathering  up  from  all  the  lower  ground  ; 
Narrowing  in  to  where  they  sat  assembled, 
Low  voluptuous  music,  winding,  trembled. 

Tennyson. 


.46  OR  THOME TR  Y. 

(/).  TROCHAIC  HEXAMETER. 
Normal  line,  Twelve  Syllables 

-|  -  -|  -  ~| -    -|  -     -  |  -   ~. 
There  are  but  few  examples  of  this  measure. 

Holy,  |  holy,  ]  holy,  j  all  the     saints  a  j  dore  Thee, 
Casting  j  down  their  |  golden  |  crowns  a  |  round  the  |  glassy  j 
sea.  Heber. 

Here  is  a  specimen  of  this  verse  truncated. 

Love  with  [  rosy  |  fetter  j  held  us  |  firmly  |  bound  ; 
Pure  un  |  mixed  en  j  joyment  |  grateful  |  here  we  |  found. 
Bosom  |  bosom  |  meeting  j  'gainst  our  |  youths  we  j  pressed; 
Bright  the  j  morn  a  |  rose  then  |  glad  to  |  see  us  |  blessed. 

G.  Borrow. 

(g  and  //).  TROCHAIC  HEPTAMETER  AND  OCTAMETER. 
Normal  lines  Fourteen  and  Sixteen  Syllables. 

There  are  but  few  symmetrical  poems  in  these 
measures,  although  they  have  been  freely  used  by 
Longfellow,  Lord  Lytton,  Aytoun,  and  Tennyson 
in  irregular  combinations.  Tennyson's  Locks  ley 
Hall  and  Poe's  Raven  supply  good  examples. 

Cursed  |  be  the  j    social      wants  that  J   sin  a   j  gainst  the  | 
strength  of  |  youth  ! 

Cursed  |  be  the  j  social  |  lies  that  |  warp  us  j  from  the  |  living 
|  truth  ! 

Cursed  j  be   the  j  sickly  |  forms  that  |  err  from  |  honest  j  na- 
ture's rule  ! 

Cursed  |  be   the  |  gold   that  j  gilds   the  |  straitened  |  fore- 
head |  of  the  |  fool ! 

Tennyson. 


MEASURES   OF  VERSE.  47 

Ah  !  distinctly  I  remember,  it  was  in  the  bleak  December, 
And  each  separate  dying  ember  wrought  its  ghost  upon  the 

floor. 

Eagerly  I  wished  the  morrow  ;  vainly  I  had  sought  to  borrow 
From  my  books  surcease  of  sorrow— sorrow  for  the  lost  Lenore— 
For  the   rare   and  radiant   maiden  whom   the  angels  name 
Lenore — 

Nameless  here  for  evermore. 

Foe. 

In  the  market-place  of  Bruges  stands  the  belfry  old  and  brown : 
Thrice  consumed  and  thrice  rebuilded,  still  it  watches  o'er  the 

town. 

As  the  summer  morn  was  breaking  on  that  lofty  tower  I  stood, 
And  the  world  threw  off  the  darkness  like  the  weeds  of  widow- 
hood. Longfellow. 

Then  we  bounded  from  our  covert.     Judge  how  looked  the 

Saxons  then, 
When  they  saw  the  rugged  mountain  start  to  life  with  armed 

men.  Aytoun. 

Come,  my  lad,  and  sit  beside  me  ;  we  have  often  talked  before 
Of  the  hurricane  and  tempest,  and  the  storms  on  sea  and 

shore  : 
When  we  read  of  deed  and  daring  done  for  dear  old  England's 

sake, 
We  have  cited  Nelson's  duty  and  the  enterprise  of  Drake. 

Clement  Scoff. 

3.— ANAPESTIC  MEASURE. 

Trisyllabic  measures  have  not  been  much  used 
by  our  poets  for  reasons  that  are  not  far  to  seek. 
They  require  the  constant  recurrence  of  two  sylla- 
bles both  unaccented  and  short  to  one  syllable 
accented,  and  our  language  does  not  afford  that 
proportion.  Their  construction  being  thus  rendered 


48  OR  THOME  TR  Y. 

more  complex  and  artificial  than  dissyllabic  verse, 
and  their  rhythmical  ring  being  more  pronounced 
and  therefore  liable  to  become  monotonous,  it  need 
not  surprise  us  that  no  lengthy  poem  has  been 
attempted  in  the  three- syllable  metre.  The  licences 
made  use  of  in  verse  of  this  kind  are  many  and 
varied,  the  interchange  of  feet,  the  omission  and 
addition  of  syllables  being  almost  the  rule  instead 
of  the  exception.  Pure  symmetrical  lines  are  rarely 
met  with  consecutively  unless  the  rhyme  demands 
it. 

It  is  unnecessary,  we  think,  to  preserve  further 
the  detailed  classification  of  dimeter,  trimeter  verse, 
as  has  been  done  in  the  dissyllabic  measures ; 
numerous  and  varied  examples  are,  however,  given, 
adequate  for  all  the  purposes  of  illustration  and 
explanation,  and  the  reader  will  find  abundant 
material  for  the  exercise  of  the  critical  faculty  and 
skill  in  scanning  in  the  works  of  all  our  modern 
poets,  especially  in  Shelley,  Longfellow,  and 
Tennyson. 

Normal  Measure  —••—'  —  |   ^~-  — -   — . 

I  am  out  |  of  human  |  ity's  reach, 
I  must  fin  |  ish  my  jour  |  ney  alone, 

Never  hear  |  the  sweet  mu  j  sic  of  speech. 
I  start  i  at  the  sound  |  of  my  own. 

Cowfier. 

Tis  th6  last  [  rose  of  sum  |  mer, 

L5ft  bloom  |  Ing  alone  ; 
All  her  lovely  companions 

Are  faded  and  gone. 

Moore. 


MEASURES   OF   VERSE,  49 

He  !s'  gone  |  on  th£  moun  |  tain, 

He  is  lost  |  to  the  fo  [  rest, 
Like  a  summer-dried  fountain, 

When  our  need  was  the  sorest. 

Scott. 

She  is  far  |  from  the  land  [  where  her  young  |  hero  sleeps, 
And  lov  |  ers  around  j  her  are  sigh  j  ing  ; 

But  coldly  she  turns  from  their  gaze  and  weeps  ; 
For  her  heart  in  his  grave  is  lying. 

Moore. 

Note  here  that  the  first  verse  is  the  only  symme- 
trical one  in  the  stanza,  yet  the  melody  throughout 
is  perfect. 

There  the  war  |  rior  lay  stretched  |  in  the  midst  |  of  his  pride, 
And  the  bride     groom  fell  dead     by  the  corpse  j  of  his  bride  ; 
Unwept  was  the  lyre,  and  forsaken  the  lute. 
And  the  lips  of  the  minstrel  for  ever  wa<f 'mute. 

Anon. 
"  Pompeii." 

And  the  rose  j  like  a  nymph  |  to  the  bath  j  addrest, 
Which  unveil  |  ed  the  depth     of  her  glow  |  ing  breast, 
Till  fold  |  after  fold  |  to  the  faint  |  ing  air 
The  soul  |  of  her  beau  |  ty  and  love  |  lay  bare. 

Shelley. 

Not  a  drum  |  was  heard,  j  not  a  fun  [  eral  note, 
As  his  corse     to  the  ram  |  part  we  hur  [  ried  ; 

Not  a  sol  |  dier  discharg  |  ed  his  fare  |  well  shot 
O'er  the  grave  |  where  our  he  |  ro  we  bur  |  ied. 

Wolfe. 

I  come,  |  I  come,  |  ye  have  call  |  ed  me  long, 

I  come  |  o'er  the  mount  |  ain  with  light  |  and  song ; 

E 


50  OR  THOME  TR  Y. 

You  may  trace     my  step  |  o'er  the  wak  |  ening  earth, 
By  the  winds  j  which  tell     of  the  vi  |  olets'  birth, 
By  the  prim  |  rose  stars     in  the  shad  |  owy  grass, 
By  the  green  j  leaves  op     ening  as  |  I  pass. 

In  the  last  example  the  rhythm  demands  that 
there  shall  be  no  elision  in  called,  wakening, 
violet,  opening.  The  concluding  specimens  exhibit 
still  greater  irregularities,  though  in  every  case 
the  flow  is  distinctly  anapestic,  and  the  melody  runs 
smoothly. 

I  arise     from  dreams  J  of  thee, 

In  the  first  |  sweet  sleep  |  of  night, 
When  the  winds  are  breathing  low, 

And  the  stars  are  shining  bright. 
I  arise  from  dreams  of  thee, 

And  a  spirit  in  my  feet 
Has  led  me — who  knows  how  ? — 

To  thy  chamber- window,  sweet. 

Shelley. 

I  have  laid  him  down  in  the  cot  that  each  night  used  I  rock, 

and  spread 

All  the  tender  flowers  I  could  gather  about  his  head  ; 
Early  springtime  it  is,  so  I  could  only  find 
Delicate  violet-bloom  that  shrank  from  the  bitter  wind. 

E.  Hickey. 

For  the  lawyer  is  born  but  to  murder — 

The  Saviour  lives  but  to  bless. 

And  the  first  may  be  last — I  have  heard  it  in  church  - 
And  the  last  may  be  first. 

Tennyson . 
"  Rizpah.'1 


MEASURES   OF  VERSE.  51 

4.— DACTYLIC    MEASURE. 

Normal  Measure    \  —  —  — •  \  —  — -  •—  | 

The  rhythm  of  this  measure  presents  the  same 
antithesis  to  Anapestic  that  Trochaic  does  to 
Iambic  :  it  has  a  bounding,  martial  ring  about  it 
which  renders  it  suitable  for  gay  and  sprightly 
lyrics. 

Shadows  of  |  beauty  ! 

Shadows  of  |  pow£r  ! 
Rise  to  your  |  duty— 

This  is  th6  |  hour. 

Byron. 

Make  no  deep  |  scrutiny 
Into  her  |  mutiny, 

Rash  and  un     dutiful : 
Past  all  dis  |  honour, 
Death  has  left  |  on  her 

Only  the  |  beautiful.* 

Hood. 

Bird  of  the  |  wilderness, 
Blithesome  and  |  cumberless, 

Light  be  thy  |  matin  o'er  |  mountain  and  j  lea  ; 
Emblem  of  ]  happiness, 
Blest  be  thy  |  dwelling-place  ; 

O  to  a  j  bide  in  the  |  desert  with  |  thee. 

Hogg. 

Come,  let  us  ]  sit  and  be  |  merry,  lads. 

Here  we  se  |  curely  can  |  hide  ; 
Here  we  have     claret  and  \  sherry,  lads. 

Port  and  Ma  |  deira  be  j  side. 

*  Mr.  Ruskin,  in  his  "  Elements  of  English  Prosody,"  p.  24,  remarks 
upon  this  poem,  "  the  emotion  is  entirely  continuous,  and  the  accent 
equal  on  every  syllable  "  (sic). 


52  ORTHOMETRY. 

Cannon  to  j  right  of  them, 
Cannon  to  j  left  of  them, 
Cannon  in  |  front  of  them, 

Volleyed  and  |  thundered. 
Stormed  at  with  |  shot  and  shell, 
Boldly  they  |  rode  and  well, 
Into  the  |  jaws  of  death, 
Into  the     mouth  of  hell, 

Rode  the  six  |  hundred.* 

Tennyson. 

Warriors  and  |  chiefs!   should  the  |  shaft  or  the  j  sword 
Pierce  me  in  [  leading  the     hosts  of  the  |  Lord, 
Heed  not  a  |  corse,  though  a  j  king's,  in  your  j  path, 
Bury  your  j  steel  in  the     bosoms  of  Gath. 

Byron. 

Tell  me,  thou  |  bonny  bird, 

When  shall  I  |  marry  me  ? 
When  six  braw  |  gentlemen 

Kirk  ward  shall  j  carry  ye. 

Scott. 

Here  we  go  off  on  the  "  London  and  Birmingham," 

Bidding  adieu  to  the  foggy  metropolis  ! 
.Staying  at  home  with  the  dumps  in  confirming  'em  : — 

Motion  and  mirth  are  a  fillip  to  life. 

G.  D. 

"  Railway  Dactyls." 

*  This  famous  Charge  of  the  Light  Brigade,  says  Mr.  Austin  Dobson 
(Notes  and  Queries,  4th  series,  vol.  x.,  p.  338),  was  doubtless  sug- 
gested, both  in  metre  and  style,  by  a  short  but  grand  poem  by  Michael 
Drayton  on  the  battle  of  Agincourt,  the  last  stanza  of  which  is  as 
follows  :— 

Upon  St.  Crispin's  day 
Fought  was  this  noble  fray, 
Which  fame  did  not  delay 

To  England  to  carry. 

O  when  shall  Englishmen 

With  such  acts  fill  a  pen, 

Or  England  breed  again 

Such  a  King  Harry  ! 


MEASURES   OF   VERSE.  53 

Onward  she  [  glides  amid  j  ripple  and  |  spray 
Over  the  \  waters  a  |  way  and  a  |  way  ! 
Bright  are  the  |  visions  of  |  youth  ere  they  |  part, 
Passing  a  j  way  like  a  I  dream  of  the  |  heart. 

Hervey. 
Sea-king's  |  daughter  from  |  over  the  |  sea. 

Alexandra  ! 

Saxon  and  |  Norman  and  ]  Dane  are  |  we, 
But  j  all  of  us     Danes  in  our  |  welcome  of  |  thee, 

Alexandra  ! 

Welcome  her,  |  thunders  of  |  fort  and  of  |  fleet ! 
Welcome  her,  |  thundering     cheer  of  the  |  street  ! 
Welcome  her,  j  all  things  |  youthful  and  |  sweet ! 
Scatter  the     blossom  |  under  1her  |  feet ! 

Tennyson* 

Brightest  and  |  best  of  the  |  sons  of  the  |  morning, 
Dawn  on  our  |  darkness  and  |  lend  us  thine  |  aid  ; 

Star  of  the  |  East,  the  hor  j  izon  a  |  doming, 
Guide  where  our  j  Infant  Re  j  deemer  is  |  laid. 

Hebcr. 

The  following  examples  will  be  found  to  run 
more  in  the  measure  of  Ainpliibrachs,  though  by 
regarding  the  first  foot  as  an  Iambus  it  would  become 
Anapestic,  while  by  beginning  with  a  single  syllable 
it  becomes  Dactylic.  The  general  character  of  the 
rhythm  as  interpreted  by  a  trained  ear  is  the  sole 

test. 

The  Bourbon  !  |  the  Bourbon  ! 

Sans  country  |  or  home, 
We'll  follow  )  the  Bourbon 
To  plunder  |  old  Rome. 

Byron. 

The  dew  of  |  the  morning 

Sank  chill  on  my  brow. 
It  felt  like  |  the  warning 

Of  what  I  !  feel  now. 


54  OR  THOMETR  Y. 

Thy  vows  are  |  all  broken, 

And  light  is  |  thy  fame, 
I  hear  thy  |  name  spoken, 

And  share  in  |  its  shame. 

Byron. 

This  is  perhaps  better  scanned  as  follows  : 

Th6  I  dew  of  the  |  morning  sank  j  chill  on  my  |  brow, 
It  |  felt  like  the  |  warning  of  |  what  I  feel     now. 

Macgregor,  (  Macgregor,     remember  |  our  foemen  ! 
The  morn  ri  |  ses  broad  from  |  the  brow  of    Ben  Lomond ; 
The  clans  are  |  impatient  \  and  chide  thy  |  delay. 
Arise,  let  |  us  bound  to  |  Glenlyon  |  away. 

Hogg. 

In  the  extracts  which  follow,  all  of  which  are  full 
of  melody,  the  rhythm  is  so  varied  that  it  is  diffi- 
cult to  pronounce  with  certainty  which  of  the  mea- 
sures predominates. 

Now  silently  poised  o'er  the  war  of  the  main, 
Like  the  spirit  of  Charity  brooding  o'er  pain  ; 
Now  gliding  with  pinion  all  silently  furled, 
Like  an  angel  descending  to  comfort  the  world. 

Gerald  Griffin. 

Mount  Blanc  is  the  monarch  of  mountains, 

We  crowned  him  long  ago, 
On  a  throne  of  rocks,  in  a  robe  of  clouds, 

With  a  diadem  of  snow. 
Around  his  waist  are  forests  braced, 

The  av'lanche  in  his  hand  ; 
But  ere  it  fall,  that  thundering  ball 

Must  pause  for  my  command. 

Byron. 


MEASURES  OF  VERSE.  55 

There  came  to  the  beach  a  poor  exile  of  Erin  ; 

The  dew  on  his  thin  robe  was  heavy  and  chill ; 
For  his  country  he  sighed  when  at  twilight  repairing, 

To  wander  alone  by  the  wind-beaten  hill. 

Campbell. 

I  was  a  child,  and  she  was  a  child, 

In  this  kingdom  by  the  sea  ; 
But  we  loved  with  a  love  that  was  more  than  love, 

I  and  my  Annabel  Lee  ; 
With  a  love  that  the  winged  seraphs  of  heaven 

Coveted  her  and  me. 

Poe. 

I  silently  laugh  at  my  own  cenotaph, 

And  out  of  the  caverns  of  rain, 
Like  a  child  from  the  womb,  like  a  ghost  from  the  tomb, 

I  arise  and  unbuild  it  again. 

Shelley.    \ 


MIXED   METRES. 

WRITERS  of  verse  are  under  no  necessity  to  a 
slavish  adherence  to  metrical  rules.  The  muse  may 
soar  high  with  steady  wing  and  stately  swoop,  or 
flutter  about  the  lower  grounds  in  fantastic  mazes ; 
but  his  movements  must  always  be  rhythmical  and 
his  utterances  musical.  Linguistic  difficulties  and 
the  *  seductive  chains  of  linked  sweetness/  urge  him 
to  the  adoption  of  every  possible  variety  of  measure 
that  lends  freedom  to  the  movement,  and  relieves 
the  monotony  of  regularity.  We  have  already 
pointed  out  the  addition  or  omission  of  short  sylla- 
bles, the  interchange  of  feet  of  one  kind  for  those  of 
another.  Now  we  have  to  illustrate,  in  addition 
to  these  variations,  the  mingling  of  long  and  short 
measures  in  elegant  complexity,  together  with  the 
fitful  ring  of  rhymes,  the  combined  effect  of  which 
often  adds  to  the  melody  of  the  rhythm  the  richness 
of  harmony. 

Amongst  the  simpler  of  these  combinations  are 
the  Iambic  with  Anapestic,  Trochaic  with  Dactylic, 
in  both  of  which  the  swing  of  the  melody  is  unin- 
terrupted, e.g :  , 


My  life  j  is  cold  |  and  dark  [  and  drear  |  y  \j 
It  rains  j  and  the  wind  j  is'nev  '  er  wear  |  y. 


MIXED  METRES.  57 

My  thoughts  |  still  cling  |  to  the  mould  |  ering  past, 
And  the  hopes     of  youth  |  fall  thick  |  in  the  blast, 
And  the  days  ]  are  dark  |  and  drear    y. 

Longfellow. 

And  Willy,  my  eldest  born,  is  gone,  you  say,  little  Annie  ? 
Ruddy  and  white,  and  strong  on  his  legs,  he  looks  like  a  man. 
And  Willy's  wife  has  written — she  never  was  overwise — 
Never  the  wife  for  Willy — he  wouldn't  take  my  advice. 

Tennyson. 
"  The  Grandmother  " 

In    the  following,    Iambic   and   Trochaic   verses 
alternate  regularly. 

When  the  lamp  is  shattered, 

The  light  in  the  dust  lies  dead  ; 
When  the  cloud  is  scattered, 

The  rainbow's  glory  is  shed  ; 
When  the  lute  is  broken, 

Sweet  tones  are  remembered  not ; 
When  the  lips  have  spoken, 

Loved  accents  arc  soon  forgot. 

Shelley. 

In  U Allegro  and  //  Penscroso  the  measures    are 
mingled  irregularly. 

^j       -        v'    ^   <"    *— *  • — 
Sometimes  with  secure  delight 

The  upTana  hamlets  will  invite, 

When  the  merry  bells  ring  round, 

And  the  jocund  rebecs  sound, 

To  many  a  youth  and  many  a  maid 

Dancing  in  the  chequer'd  shade  ; 

And  young  and  old  come  forth  to  play 

On  a  sunshine  holiday, 

Till  the  livelong  daylight  fail  ; 

Then  to  the  spicy  nut-brown  ale. 

Milton. 


58  ORTHOMETRY. 

As  also  in  the  following  : 

There  be  none  of  Beauty's  daughters 

With  a  magic  like  thee  ; 
And  like  music  on  the  waters 

Is  thy  sweet  voice  to  me. 
When,  as  if  its  sound  were  causing 
The  charmed  ocean's  pausing, 
The  waves  lie  still  and  gleaming, 
And  the  lulled  winds  seem  dreaming  ! 

Syr  on. 

Happy  the  man,  and  happy  he  alone, 

He  who  can  call  to-day  his  own, 
He  who,  secure  within,  can  say, 

To-morrow  do  thy  worst,  for  I  have  lived  to-day. 

Dry  den. 

A  combination  of  the  same  species  of  verse  is 
made  by  those  which  differ  in  the  number  of  their 
feet,  as  in  the  examples  here  given,  where  the 
figures  denote  the  number  of  feet  in  each  verse. 


/5.  In  realms  long  held  beneath  a  tyrant's  sway, 

Combina-  I  LQ  ,  Freedom  hath  again  appear'd  ! 

tions     in    ^  In  this  auspicious  day 

the  lam-    ^  -^er  giorjous  ensign  floats,  and  high  in  Spain  is 

blC'  rear'd. 


In      the 


4.       Banded  despots  hate  the  sight ; 

2.  And  in  spite 

4.       Arm  their  slaves  for  war  and  plunder. 


Trochaic.  \  4.       But  the  British  lion's  roar, 
3.  Heard  on  every  shore, 

5.  Soon  shall  break  their  impious  league  asunder. 


In  the 
A  n  ap  es- 
tic. 


MIXED  METRES.  59 

3.  Then  Spaniards  shall  set  at  defiance 
2.          Their  foes  that  advance  : 

4.  They  shall  laugh  at  the  threats  of  the   Holy 

Alliance, 
4.  And  baffle,  indignant,  th'  invasion  of  France. 


f  2.  On  to  the  field  ! 

In     the    4.  Heaven  will  assist  the  defenders  of  Freedom  ; 
Dactylic.     4.  Prayers  and  arms  in  your  cause,  if  you  need  'e  m 
3.  Every  Briton  will  yield  ! 

Other  combinations  are  those  of  different  kinds 
of  verse,  viz.  the  iambic  with  the  three  others  ;  the 
trochaic  with  the  anapestic  and  dactylic,  and  the 
two  last  together.  These  combinations  are  made 
according  to  the  fancy  of  the  writer,  in  a  variety  of 
degrees :  sometimes  no  greater  than  single  verses, 
or  parts  of  a  verse,  as  in  this  of  Dryden's  Ode,  the 
anapestic  with  the  iambic  : 

\j      U       .     - 

And  amazed  |  he  stares  |  around. 

Another  line  in  the  same  ode  is  of  ambiguous 
measure.  The  latter  half  is  anapestic  ;  so  the  first 
may  be,  but  it  reads  and  scans  better  as  trochaic  : 

These  are  |  Grecian  |  ghosts  that  in  |  battle  were  |  slain. 

Such  combinations  are  to  be  observed  as  matters 
of  curiosity  rather  than  imitated. 

Ariel's  Song  in  the  Tempest  combines  the  tro- 
chaic with  the  dactylic : 

On  the  bat's  back  I  do  fly 

After  summer  merrily ; 
Merrily,  merrily  shall  I  live  now 
Under  the  blossom  that  hangs  on  the  bough. 


6  O  OR  THOME  TR  Y. 

The   ode  just   quoted  has,  within  the  compass  of 
six  lines,  half  as  many  combinations  : 

Behold  a  ghastly  band, 
Each  a  torch  in  his  hand  : 

These  are  Grecian  ghosts  that  in  battle  were  slain, 
And  unburied  remain 
Inglorious  on  the  plain  : 
Give  the  vengeance  due. 

In  Love's  Labour's  Lost  there  is  a  stanza  formed 
by  a  curious  combination  of  verses,  some  of  them 
of  a  measure  very  uncommon,  being  trochaics  of 
five  feet,  the  last  curtailed. 

Clear  wells  spring  not,  sweet  birds  sing  not, 

Green  plants  bring  not  forth  their  dye  ; 
Herds  stand  weeping,  flocks  all  sleeping, 

Nymphs  black  peeping  fearfully. 
All  our  pleasure  known  to  us  poor  swains, 
All  our  merry  meetings  on  the  plains, 
All  our  evening  sport  from  us  is  fled  ; 
All  our  love  is  lost,  for  love  is  dead. 

Farewell,  sweet  love,  thy  like  ne'er  was, 

For  a  sweet  content,  the  cause  of  all  my  woe  ; 
Poor  Coridon  must  live  alone, 

Other  help  for  him  I  see  that  there  is  none. 

A  very  extraordinary  combination  of  English 
verse  is  a  song  by  Campion,  who  will  be  quoted  at 
length  hereafter.  Campion  was  eminent  as  a 
musician  as  well  as  a  poet,  which  may  account 
for  so  singular  a  specimen  of  metre. 

What  if  a  day,  or  a  month,  or  a  year, 
Crown  thy  delights  with  a  thousand  wish'd  contentings  ; 

Cannot  a  chance  of  a  night  or  an  hour, 
Cross  thy  delights  with  a  thousand  sad  tormentings  ? 


MIXED  METRES.  6  I 

Fortune,  honour,  beauty,  youth,  are  but  blossoms  dying; 
Wanton  pleasure,  doting  love,  are  but  shadows  flying. 
All  our  joys  are  but  toys, 

Idle  thoughts  deceiving ; 
None  hath  power  of  an  hour, 
In  their  live  bereiving. 

In  every  combination  there  should  be  a  design 
of  producing  some  effect ;  to  introduce  a  combina- 
tion without  any  design  is  a  mark  of  carelessness, 
or  lack  of  patience  and  resource.  The  effect 
designed  may  be  merely  to  please,  by  a  change 
of  the  measure,  for  the  sake  of  variety;  but  the 
change  is  made  more  properly  when  it  is  done 
to  accommodate  the  verse  to  the  sentiments ;  to 
express,  for  example,  what  is  grave  by  a  suitable 
kind,  as  the  iambic  ;  what  is  sprightly  by  the 
trochaic,  and  the  like.  Gray,  in  his  ode  on  the  Pro- 
gress of  Poesy,  has  produced  a  very  striking  and 
happy  effect  by  such  a  combination  of  verses ; 
the  tripping  measure  which  represents  the  frisky 
dance  of  the  Cupids,  is  finely  contrasted  wjth  the 
smooth  iambic  which  describes  the  gentle  gait  of 
Venus. 

Now  pursuing,  now  retreating, 

Now  in  circling  troops  they  meet : 
To  brisk  notes  in  cadence  beating 

Glance  their  many  twinkling  feet. 
Slow  melting  strains  their  queen's  approach  declare  ; 
In  gliding  state  she  wins  her  easy  way. 

A  disagreeable  and  jarring  effect  would  be  pro- 
duced if  they  were  made  contrariwise  to  this,  i.e. 


62  OR  THOME  TR  Y. 

if,  in  this  instance,  the  trochaic  and  iambic  should 
change  places. 

Combinations  may  be  esteemed  good  or  bad, 
according  as  they  preserve  or  break  the  measure 
and  flow  of  the  verse.  The  following  is  good  : 

The  listening  Muses  all  around  her 
Think  'tis  Phoebus'  strains  they  hear. 

Here  is  an  iambic  line,  with  a  redundant  syllable 
followed  by  a  trochaic.  This  satisfies  the  ear  ;  for 
the  verses  flow  smoothly  on  to  the  end  of  the  period, 
because  the  iambic  measure  is  continued  unbroken. 
The  combination  below  is  not  good. 

A  mind  that's  truly  brave 

Stands  despising 

Storms  arising, 
And  can't  be  made  a  slave. 

The  last  line,  being  an  iambic,  which  follows  a 
trochaic,  not  curtailed,  but  full,  produces  an  un- 
pleasing  effect ;  for  it  seems  to  have  a  syllable  too 
much.  It  offends  the  ear,  because  the  measure  is 
broken :  strike  out  that  syllable,  and  the  offence 
will  be  removed ;  the  trochaic  measure  will  be  pre- 
served to  the  end.  In  fact,  the  objectionable  line 
is  owing  to  a  mistake  of  Bysshe.  In  his  Art  of 
Poetry,  he  quoted  the  passage  from  Dryden  incor- 
rectly ;  in  that  author,  the  last  line  runs  thus  : 

And  can  ne'er  be  made  a  slave, 

which  is  a  trochaic  verse,  and  gives  the  measure 
desired. 


MIXED  METRES.  63 

In  serious  poetry  the  combination  is  bad,  gener- 
ally speaking,  which  subjoins  a  short  line  to  a  long 
one,  especially  if  they  rhyme  together  ;  as, 

Be  thou  thine  own  approver  ;  honest  praise 
Oft  nobly  sways 
Ingenuous  youth. 

A  ken  side. 

One  reason  is,  that  such  a  combination  wants 
dignity,  which  is  the  more  apparent  in  this  in- 
stance, because  the  preceding  line  is  the  stately 
heroic  verse.  To  give  another  example  : 


and 


By  Euphrates'  flowery  side 
We  did  bide  ; 


When  poor  Sion's  doleful  state, 
Desolate. 


In  these  lines  the  quick  return  of  the  rhyme  nearly 
destroys  the  gravity  of  the  matter.  Another  reason 
why  these  combinations  are  faulty,  is  the  dispro- 
portion between  the  length  of  the  lines.  And  upon 
this  account,  if  lines  as  disproportionate  as  these 
were  set  in  a  contrary  order,  the  combination  would 
still  be  unpleasing,  as  in  this  instance  : 

As  if  great  Atlas  from  his  height 
Should  sink  beneath  his  heavenly  weight, 
And  with  a  mighty  flow  the  flaming  wall, 

As  once  it  shall, 

Should  gape  immense,   and,  rushing  down,   o'erwhelm   this 
nether  ball. 

Dryden. 


6  4  OR  THOME  TR  I '. 

But  a  good  combination  is  made  by  two  lines, 
or  more,  increasing",  as  they  proceed,  in  a  mode- 
great  degree  :  i.e.  by  one  or  two  feet ;  example  : 

All  real  here  the  bard  had  seen 

The  glories  of  his  pictured  queen  : 
The  tuneful  Dryden  had  not  flatter'd  here, 
His  lyre  had  blameless  been,  his  tribute  all  sincere. 

War  ton. 

It  is  this  gradual  increase  above  the  preceding 
lines  which  makes  the  Alexandrine  so  graceful  in 
the  close  ;  for  it  has  no  beauty  if  set  in  the  begin- 
ning of  a  poem  or  stanza,  as  it  has  been  by  some 
of  our  poets. 

After  this  manner  the  verse  of  fourteen  syllables 
may  be  brought  in,  and  follow  the  Alexandrine 
with  good  effect : 

The  sylvans  to  their  shades  retire  ; 
Those   very   shades   and  streams   new   shades   and   streams 

require, 

And  want  a  cooling  breeze  of  wind  to  fan  the  raging  fire. 

Dryden. 

The  lighter  sorts  of  poetry  are  not  to  be  consid- 
ered as  necessarily  subject  to  this  rule.  In  epi- 
grams, for  instance,  where  wit  is  often  most  happily 
expressed  by  brevity,  the  point  or  concluding  line 
may  very  properly  be  shorter  than  the  preceding  ; 
as  in  this : 

What  a  frail  thing  is  beauty  !  says  Baron  le  Cras, 
Perceiving  his  mistress  had  one  eye  of  glass  ; 


J//A7-:/)   METRES.  65 

And  scarcely  had  he  spoke  it, 
When  she,  more  enraged  as  more  angry  she  grew, 
By  a  negligent  rage  proved  the  maxim  too  true  : 

She  dropt  the  eye  and  broke  it. 

Prior. 


The  concluding  specimens  of  mixed  metres  from 
Dry  den's  Alexander  s  Feast \  Tennyson's  Ode  on  the 
Death  of  the  Duke  of  Wellington,  and  The  Sisters, 
furnish  illustrations  of  still  greater  complexity. 


Soothed  with  the  sound  the  king  grew  vain, 
Fought  all  his  battles  o'er  again, 

And  thrice  he  routed  all  his  foes,  and  thrice  he  slew  the  slain, 
The  master  saw  the  madness  rise, 
His  glowing  cheeks,  his  ardent  eyes  ; 
And  when  he  heaven  and  earth  defied, 
Changed  his  hand  and  checked  his  pride. 

He  chose  a  mournful  muse, 

Soft  pity  to  infuse  : 
He  sang  Darius  great  and  good, 

By  too  severe  a  fate, 

Fall'n,  fall'n,  fall'n,  fall'n, 

Fallen  from  his  high  estate, 
And  weltering  in  his  blood. 

Dry  den. 

O  divine  light ! 
Through  the  cloud  that  roofs  our  noon  with  night, 

Through  the  blotting  mist,  the  blinding  showers, 
Far  from  out  a  sky  for  ever  bright, 
Over  all  the  woodland's  flooded  bowers, 
Over  all  the  meadows  drowning  flowers, 
Over  all  this  ruined  world  of  ours, 
Break,  divine  light  ! 

Tennyson. 


66  OR  THOME  TR  Y. 

But  while  the  races  of  mankind  endure, 
Let  his  great  example  stand, 
Colossal,  seen  of  every  land, 
And  keep  the  soldier  firm,  the  statesman  pure  ; 
Till  in  all  lands,  and  through  all  human  story 
The  path  of  duty  be  the  way  to  glory  : 
And  let  the  land  whose  hearths  he  saved  from  shame, 
For  many  and  many  an  age  proclaim, 
At  civic  revel  and  pomp  and  game, 
And  when  the  long-illumined  cities  flame 
Their  ever-loyal  iron  leader's  fame, 
With  honour,  honour,  honour,  honour  to  him, 
Eternal  honour  to  his  name. 

Tennyson. 


COMBINATIONS  OF  VERSES. 

VERSES  are  combined  to  form  poems  either  in  con- 
tinuous unbroken  runs,  extending  in  some  instances 
to  thousands  of  lines,  or  in  detached  groups  of  a 
varying  number  of  lines,  which  are  called  stanzas.* 
The  former  consist  of  verses  of  the  same  metre, 
generally  of  iambic  pentameter,  without  division  or 
metrical  complexity,  and  in  this  amorphous  form,  as 
it  may  be  termed,  all  the  great  poems  of  our  own 
and  other  tongues  are  embodied.  The  latter 
includes  all  our  lyric  poetry,  and  nearly  all  other 
minor  poetic  forms. 

i.— CONTINUOUS  VERSE. 

In  continuous  verse  are  the  heroic  measures  of 
Chaucer,  Dryden,  Pope,  Goldsmith,  Keats,  &c., 
and  the  noble  blank  verse  of  Milton,  Shakspere, 
Addison,  Cowper,  Wordsworth,  and  Tennyson. 
All  the  great  masters  of  song  have  clothed  their 
lofty  imaginings  and  philosophy  in  this  form,  since 
it  allowed  them  the  widest  freedom  of  rhythmic 
roll,  and  harassed  them  with  the  fewest  verbal  diffi- 

*  A  verse  is  a  succession  of  feet  forming  one  line  of  a  poem  ;  a  stanza 
a  group  of  verses  constituting  a  regular  division  of  a-  poem. 


68  OR  THOME  TRY. 

culties.  Poets,  like  their  brother  artists  the  pain- 
ters, have  availed  themselves  of  larger  canvas  and 
freer  methods  of  treatment  when  depicting  continu- 
ous heroic  action,  or  in  portraying  the  chequered 
drama  of  life  ;  the  minuteness  and  polish  of  the 
miniature  picture  is  bestowed  for  the  most  part 
upon  lyrical  efforts. 

Of  epic  and  dramatic  verse,  which  embraces 
nearly  all  the  continuous  forms  of  poetry,  we  have 
spoken  elsewhere. 


2.— STANZAIC  VERSE. 

We  now  proceed  to  illustrate  the  various  forms 
of  stanza  into  which  poets  have  moulded  their 
verses  with  infinite  variety.  As  these  groups  of 
verses  not  only  vary  in  number  from  two  to  sixteen, 
and  the  verses  themselves  range  in  length  from 
one  to  eight  feet,  it  is  obviously  impossible  to  ex- 
hibit specimens  of  all  varieties  that  may  be  found. 
We  have,  however,  selected  with  care  as  many 
and  as  varied  illustrations  of  each  kind  as  the 
subject  demands. 

(a}.  STANZAS  OF  Two  VERSES. 
These  are  called  distichs  or  couplets. 

Hard  he  laboured,  long  and  well : 
Over  his  work  the  boy's  curls  fell. 

Then  back  again  his  curls  he  threw, 
And  cheerful  turned  to  work  anew. 

R.  Browning* 

"  The  Boy  and  the  Angel. 


COMBINATIONS  OF  I'ERSES.  69 

From  their  nests  beneath  the  rafters  hung  the  swallows  wild 

and  high  ; 

And  the  world  beneath  me   sleeping,   seemed  more   distant 
than  the  sky. 

Longfellow. 
"  Belfry  of  Bruges." 

Love  took  up  the  glass  of  Time,  and  turned  it  in  his  glowing 

hands ; 
Every  moment,  lightly  shaken,  ran  itself  in  golden  sands. 

Love  took  up  the  harp  of  life,  and  smote  on  all  the  chords  with 

might ; 

Smote  the  chord  of  Self,  that,  trembling,  passed  in  music  out 
of  sight. 

Tennyson. 
"  Locksley  Hall." 

(b).  STANZAS  OF  THREE  VERSES. 

These  are  known  as  tercets^  and  when  rhyming 
together  are  called  triplets. 

A  still  small  voice  spake  unto  me, 
"  Thou  art  so  full  of  misery, 
Were  it  not  better  not  to  be  "  ? 

Then  to  the  still  small  voice  I  said, 
"  Let  me  not  cast  in  endless  shade 
What  is  so  wonderfully  made." 

Tennyson. 
"Two  Voices." 

Thy  silver  locks,  once  auburn  bright, 
Are  still  more  lovely  in  my  sight 
Than  golden  beams  of  orient  light. 

Cowper. 
"  My  Mary." 


70  ORTHOMETRY. 

There's  a  palace  in  Florence  the  world  knows  well, 

And  a  statue  watches  it  from  the  square, 
And  this  story  of  both  do  our  townsmen  tell. 

R.  Browning. 
"  The  Statue  and  the  Bust." 

When  I  tie  about  thy  wrist, 
Julia,  this  my  silken  twist, 
For  what  other  reason  is't, 

But  to  show  thee  how,  in  part, 

Thou  my  pretty  captive  art  ? 

— But  thy  bond-slave  is  my  heart. 

Her  rick. 
"The  Bracelet." 

I  made  a  posy  while  the  day  ran  by  ; 
Here  will  I  smell  my  remnant  out,  and  tie 
My  life  within  this  band. 

But  Time  did  beckon  to  the  flowers,  and  they 
By  noon  most  cunningly  did  steal  away, 
And  withered  in  my  hand. 

Herbert. 
"  Life  and  the  Flowers." 

There's  a  being  bright  whose  beams 
Light  my  days  and  gild  my  dreams, 
Till  my  life  all  sunshine  seems — 

'Tis  the  Ladye  of  Lee. 

Francis  Mahony 
(Father  Prout). 

Beautiful  faces  are  those  that  wear — 
It  matters  little  if  dark  or  fair — 
Whole-souled  honesty  printed  there. 

Anon. 

Maiden  !  with  the  meek,  brown  eyes  ! 
In  whose  orbs  a  shadow  lies, 
Like  the  dusk  in  evening  skies  ! 


COMBINATIONS   OF   VERSES.  71 

0  thou  child  of  many  prayers  ! 

Life  hath  quicksands — life  hath  snares  ! 
Care  and  age  come  unawares  ! 

Longfellow. 

Mrs.  Browning's  Vision  of  Poets  consists  of 
upwards  of  three  hundred  stanzas  of  rhymed  trip- 
lets. 

(c).  STANZAS  OF  FOUR  VERSES. 

These  are  designated  quatrains,  and  are  more 
common  than  any  other  arrangement  of  verses. 
The  first  four  examples  illustrate  the  various  dis- 
positions of  the  rhymes,  what  follows  of  the 
lengths. 

Weep  no  more,  or  sigh,  or  moan, 
Grief  recalls  no  hour  that's  gone  ; 
Violets  plucked,  the  sweetest  rain 
Makes  not  fresh  or  grow  again. 

Beaumont  and  Fletcher. 

I  hold  it  true,  whate'er  befall, 
I  feel  it  when  I  sorrow  most, 
'Tis  better  to  have  loved  and  lost, 
Than  never  to  have  lovd  at  all. 

Tennyson. 
"  In  Memoriam." 

1  hear  the  trailing  garments  of  the  night 
Sweep  through  her  marble  halls  ! 

I  saw  her  sable  skirts  all  fringed  with  light 
From  the  celestial  walls  ! 

Longfellow. 
"  Hymns  to  the  Night." 


7 2  ORTHOMETRY. 

Then  shook  the  hills  with  thunder  riven  ; 
Then  rushed  the  steed,  to  battle  driven  ; 
And  louder  than  the  bolts  of  Heaven 
Far  flashed  the  red  artillery. 

Campbell. 
"  Hohenlinden." 

Let's  contend  no  more,  Love, 

Strive  nor  weep  ; 
All  be  as  before,  Love, 
— Only  sleep ! 

R.  Browning. 
"  A  Woman's  Last  Word. 

Now  all  is  hushed  save  where  the  weak-eyed  bat 
With  short  shrill  shriek  flits  by  on  leathern  wing, 

Or  where  the  beetle  winds 

His  small  but  sullen  horn. 

Collins. 
"  Ode  to  Evening." 

We  three  archers  be, 

Rangers  that  move  through  the  north  countree, 
Lovers  of  ven'son  and  liberty, 

That  value  not  honour  or  money. 

A  non. 

The  rising  morn  has  hid  the  stars  ; 
Her  level  rays,  like  golden  bars, 

Lie  on  the  landscape  green, 
With  shadows  brown  between. 

Longfellow. 
"  Endymion," 

That  fawn-skin  dappled  hair  of  hers, 
And  the  blue  eye, 
Dear  and  dewy, 
And  that  infantine  fresh  air  of  hers  ! 

R.  Browning. 
"  A  Pretty  Woman." 


COMBINATIONS  OF  VERSES.  73 

Another  year  is  swallowed  by  the  sea 

Of  sunless  waves ! 
Another  year,  thou  past  eternity  ! 
Has  rolled  o'er  new-made  graves. 

Ebenezer  Elliott. 
"  A  New  Year." 


Give  me  now  my  lyre  ! 
I  feel  the  stirrings  of  a  gift  divine  ; 
Within  my  bosom  glows  unearthly  fire, 
Lit  by  no  skill  of  mine. 

Eliz.  Lloyd. 
"Milton's  Last  Verses." 


I  do  not  ask,  O  Lord,  that  thou  should'st  shed 

Full  radiance  here  ; 

Give  but  a  ray  of  peace,  that  I  may  tread 
Without  a  fear. 

Adelaide  Anne  Procter. 
"  Per  pacem  ad  lucem." 

My  days  are  in  the  yellow  leaf ; 

The  flowers  and  fruits  of  love  are  gone. 
The  worm,  the  canker,  and  the  grief, 
Are  mine  alone  ! 

Byron 
(In  his  s6th  year). 

Four  heroics  rhyming  alternately,  as  in  Gray's 
Elegy,  constitute  the  Elegiac  stanza. 

Full  many  a  gem  of  purest  ray  serene 
The  dark  unfathomed  caves  of  ocean  bear  ; 

Full  many  a  flower  is  born  to  blush  unseen, 
And  waste  its  sweetness  on  the  desert  air. 

Gray. 


74  ORTHOMETRY. 

Four  and  three  iambics  alternate  are  known  as 
Ballad  or  Service  stanza.  A  slight  variation  of  the 
latter  goes  by  the  name  of  Gray's  stanza. 

All  melancholy  lying 

Thus  wailed  she  for  her  dear  ; 
Replied  each  blast  with  sighing, 

Each  billow  with  a  tear. 

Gay. 

(d).  STANZAS  OF  FIVE  VERSES. 

These  are  called  quintains,  and  have  been  employed 
by  our  poets  in  great  variety  of  rhyme  and  length 
of  verse. 

That  was  I  you  heard  last  night, 

When  there  rose  no  moon  at  all, 
Nor,  to  pierce  the  strained  and  tight 

Tent  of  heaven,  a  planet  small : 
Life  was  dead,  and  so  was  light. 

R.  Browning. 
"  A  Serenade." 

Who  is  the  honest  man  ? 
He  that  doth  still  and  strongly  good  pursue ; 
To  God,  his  neighbour,  and  himself  most  true. 
Whom  neither  force  nor  fawning  can 
Unpin,  or  wrench  from  giving  all  their  due. 

Herbert. 
"The  Steadfast  Life." 

You  meaner  beauties  of  the  night, 

That  poorly  satisfy  our  eyes 
More  by  your  number  than  your  light, 
You  common  people  of  the  skies. 
What  are  you  when  the  moon  shall  rise  ? 

Wotton. 
"  To  Elizabeth,  Queen  of  Bohemia." 


COMBINATIONS   OF   VERSES.  75 

Love  flew  in  at  the  window 

As  Wealth  walked  in  at  the  dodr. 
"  You  have  come  as  you  saw  Wealth  coming,"  said  I. 
But  he  fluttered  his  wings  with  a  sweet  little  cry, 
"I'll  cleave  to  you  rich  or  poor." 

Tennyson. 
"The  Foresters." 

Go,  lovely  Rose  ! 
Tell  her,  that  wastes  her  time  and  me, 

That  now  she  knows, 
When  I  resemble  her  to  thee 
How  sweet  and  fair  she  seems  to  be. 

Waller. 
"  The  Rose's  Message." 

Oh,  a  lady  might  have  come  there, 
Hooded  fairly  like  her  hawk, 
With  a  book  or  lute  in  summer, 
And  a  hope  of  sweeter  talk. 

Listening  less  to  her  own  music  than  for  footsteps  on  the  walk. 

Mrs.  Browning. 
"  The  Lost  Bower." 

Yes,  the  year  is  growing  old, 

And  his  eye  is  pale  and  bleared  ! 
Death,  with  frosty  hand  and  cold 
Plucks  the  old  man  by  the  beard, 

Sorely,  sorely  ! 

Longfellow. 
"  Midnight  Mass  for  the  Dying  Year." 

We  look  before  and  after, 

And  pine  for  what  is  not ; 
Our  sincerest  laughter 

With  some  pain  is  fraught : 
Our  sweetest  songs  are  those  that  tell  of  saddest  thought. 

Shelley. 
"  Ode  to  a  Skylark." 


OR  THOME  TR  Y. 

Ah  !  wretched  and  too  solitary  he 
Who  loves'not  his  own  company  ! 

He'll  feel  the  weight  oft  many  a  day, 
Unless  he  calls  in  sin  or  vanity 

To  help  to  bear't  away. 

Cow  ley. 

Two  lovers  by  a  moss-grown  spring : 
They  leaned  soft  cheeks  together  there  ; 
Mingled  the  dark  and  sunny  hair, 

And  heard  the  wooing1  thrushes  sing. 
O  budding  time  !     O  love's  blest  prime. 

George  Eliot. 

Beautiful  flowers  !  to  me  ye  fresher  seem 
From  the  Almighty  hand  that  fashioned  all, 
Than  those  that  flourish  by  a  garden  wall ; 
And  I  can  image  you,  as  in  a  dream, 

Fair,  modest  maidens,  nursed  in  hamlets  small — 
I  love  ye  all ! 

Nicholl. 
"Wild  Flowers." 

Stranger  !  however  great, 

With  lowly  reverence  bow  ; 
There's  one  in  that  poor  shed, 
One  by  that  paltry  bed, 
Greater  than  thou. 

Bowles. 
"The  Pauper's  Deathbed." 

(e).  STANZAS  OF  Six  VERSES,  CALLED  THE  SESTET. 

The  pale,  the  cold,  and  the  moony  smile 

Which  the  meteor-beam  of  a  starless  night 
Sheds  on  a  lonely  and  sea-girt  isle, 

Ere  the  dawning  of  morn's  undoubted  light, 
Is  the  flame  of  light  so  fickle  and  wan 
That  flits  round  our  steps  till  their  strength  is  gone. 

Shelley. 
"  Death." 


COMBINATIONS   OF   VERSES.  77 

Such  is  the  fate  of  artless  maid, 
Sweet  flow' ret  of  the  rural  shade  ! 
By  love's  simplicity  betrayed 

And  guileless  trust, 
Till  she,  like  thee,  all  soiled,  is  laid 
Low  i'  the  dust. 

Burns. 
"  Mountain  Daisy." 

Beside  the  ungathered  rice  he  lay, 

His  sickle  in  his  hand  ; 
His  breast  was  bare,  his  matted  hair 

Was  buried  in  the  sand. 
Again  in  the  mist  and  shadow  of  sleep 
He  saw  his  Native  Land. 

Longfellow. 
"The  Slave's  Dream." 

O  Mary,  go  and  call  the  cattle  home, 
And  call  the  cattle  home, 
And  call  the  cattle  home, 
Across  the  sands  o'  Dee. 

The  western  wind  was  wild  and  dark  with  foam, 
And  all  alone  went  she. 

Kingsley. 

And  thou  hast  walked  about  (how  strange  a  story  !) 

In  Thebes's  streets  three  thousand  years  ago. 
When  the  Memnonium  was  in  all  its  glory, 

And  time  had  not  begun  to  overthrow 
Those  temples,  palaces,  and  piles  stupendous 
Of  which  the  very  ruins  are  tremendous  ! 

Horace  Smith. 
'Address  to  a  Mummy," 

Fair  pledges  of  a  fruitful  tree, 
Why  do  you  fall  so  fast  ? 
Your  date  is  not  so  past, 


7  8  ORTHOMETRY. 

But  you  may  stay  yet  here  awhile 
To  blush  and  gently  smile, 
And  go  at  last. 

Herrick. 
"To  Blossoms." 

Is  there  a  man  whose  judgment  clear 
Can  others  teach  the  course  to  steer, 
Yet  runs  himself  life's  mad  career 

Wild  as  the  wave  ? 

Here  pause,  and  through  the  starting  tear 
Survey  this  grave. 

Burns. 
"  A  Bard's  Epitaph." 

I  was  not  ever  thus,  nor  prayed  that  Thou 

Should' st  lead  me  on  ; 
I  loved  to  choose  and  see  my  path— but  now 

Lead  Thou  me  on. 

I  loved  the  garish  day,  and,  spite  of  fears, 
Pride  ruled  my  will  :  remember  not  past  years. 

Newman. 

I  love  snow,  and  all  the  forms 

Of  the  radiant  frost ; 
I  love  waves,  and  winds,  and  storms, 

Everything  almost 
Which  is  Nature's,  and  may  be 
Untainted  by  man's  misery. 

Shelley. 
"  Invocation." 

(/).  STANZAS  OF  SEVEN  VERSES. 

Seven  heroics,  the  first  five  rhyming  at  intervals, 
the  last  two  in  succession,  form  what  is  known  as 
Rhyme  Royal.  This  stanza  was  much  used  by  early 
writers,  Chaucer,  Spenser,  &c.,  but  has  found  few 
imitations  in  modern  poets,  e.g.  : 


COMBINATIONS   OF   VERSES.  79 

So  every  spirit  as  it  is  most  pure, 
And  hath  in  it  the  more  of  heavenly  light, 

So  it  the  fairer  body  doth  procure 
To  habit  it,  and  is  more  fairly  dight 
With  cheerful  grace  and  amiable  sight  ; 

For  of  the  soul  the  body  form  doth  take 

For  soul  is  form  and  doth  the  body  make. 

Spenser. 

Awake,  awake  my  lyre  ! 
And  tell  thy  silent  master's  humble  tale 

In  sounds  that  may  prevail—- 
Sounds that  gentle  thought  inspire  ; 
Though  so  exalted  she 
And  I  so  lowly  be, 
Tell  her  such  different  notes  make  all  thy  harmony. 

Cow  ley . 
"  The  Lover  to  his  Lyre." 

Oh,  whatr  a  dawn  of  day  ! 
How  the  March  sun  feels  like  May  ! 
All  is  blue  again, 
After  last  night's  rain, 
And  the  south  dries  the  hawthorn  spray — 

Only,  my  love's  away  ! 
I'd  as  lief  that  the  blue  were  grey. 

R.  Browning. 
"  A  Lover's  Quarrel." 

Three  corpses  lay  out  on  the  shining  sands 

In  the  morning  gleam  as  the  tide  went  down  ; 
And  the  women  were  weeping  and  wringing  their  hands 
For  those  who  will  never  come  back  to  the  town. 
For  men  must  work,  and  women  must  weep, 
And  the  sooner  it's  over,  the  sooner  to  sleep, 
And  good-bye  to  the  bar  and  its  moaning. 

Kingsley. 
"The  Three  Fishers." 


80  OR  THOME  TR  Y. 

In  the  convent  clad  in  grey, 

Sat  the  monks  in  lonely  cells, 
Paced  the  cloisters,  knelt  to  pray, 
And  the  poet  heard  their  bells; 
But  his  rhymes 
Found  other  chimes 
Nearer  to  the  earth  than  they. 

Longfellow. 
"  Olive  Basselin.'' 

Swiftly  walk  over  the  western  wave, 

Spirit  of  Night ! 
Out  of  the  misty  eastern  cave, 
Where,  all  the  long  and  lone  daylight, 
Thou  wovest  dreams  of  joy  and  fear, 
Which  make  thee  terrible  and  d°ar, 
Swift  be  thy  flight ! 

Shelley. 
"To  Night." 

We  are  so  unlike  each  other 

Thou  and  I, "that  none  could  guess 
We  were  children  of  one  mother 

But  for  mutual  tenderness. 
Thou  art  rose-lined  from  the  cold, 
And  meant,  verily,  to  hold 
Life's  new  pleasures  manifold. 

Mrs.  Browning. 
"  Bertha  in  the  Lane." 

Though,  like  a  wanderer, 

The  sun  gone  down, 
Darkness  be  over  me, 

My'rest  a  stone ; 
Yet  in  my  dreams  I'd  be 
Nearer,  my  God,  to  Thee — 

Nearer  to  Thee. 

Sarah  Flower  Adams. 


COMBINATIONS   OF   VERSES.  8 1 

The  flower  that  smiles  to-day 

To-morrow  dies  ; 
All  that  we  wish  to  stay 

Tempts  and  then  flies  : 
What  is  this  world's  delight  ? 
Lightning  that  mocks  the  night, 
Brief  even  as  bright. 

Shelley. 
"  Mutability." 


(£•).  STANZAS  OF  EIGHT  VERSES. 

Eight  heroics,  the  first  six  rhyming  alternately, 
the  last  two  in  succession,  are  known  as  Ottam  Rima. 
Many  of  the  great  poems  of  Italy,  Spain,  and  Por- 
tugal are  arranged  in  this  stanza :  Byron's  transla- 
tion of  Morgaute  Maggiore  and  his  Don  Juan  are 
the  best  English  examples  of  it. 

But  the  Consul's  brow  was  sad, 

And  the  Consul's  speech  was  low, 
And  darkly  looked  he  at  the  wall, 

And  darkly  at  the  foe. 
"  Their  van  will  be  upon  us 

Before  the  bridge  goes  down  ; 
And  if  they  once  may  win  the  bridge, 

What  hope  to  save  the  town  ? " 

Macaulay. 
"  Horatius," 

A  wizard  is  he  ! 

Do  you  see,  d'ye  see  ? 
Temples  arise  in  the  upper  air  : 

Now  they  are  gone, 

And  a  troop  comes  on 
Of  plumed  knights  and  ladies  fair  \ 


82  OR  THOME  TR  Y. 

They  pass — and  a  host  of  spirits  grey 
Are  floating  onward — away  !  away  ! 

Sarah  Flower  Adams. 
"  March  Song.'1 


I:m  wearin'  awa',  John, 

Like  snaw  wreaths  in  thaw,  John, 

I'm  wearin'  awa' 

To  the  land  o'  the  leal. 
There's  nae  sorrow  there,  John, 
There's  neither  cold  nor  care,  John, 
The  day's  aye  fair 

I'  the  land  o'  the  leal. 

Lady  Nairn. 


\  climbed  the  dark  brow  of  the  mighty  Helvellyn, 

Lakes  and  mountains  beneath  me  gleamed  misty  and  wide 
All  was  still,  save,  by  fits,  when  the  eagle  was  yelling, 

And  starting  around  me  the  echoes  replied. 
On  the  right,  Striden-edge  round  the  Red-tarn  was  bending, 
And  Catchedicam  its  left  verge  was  defending, 
One  huge  nameless  rock  in  the  front  was  ascending, 
When  I  mark'd  the  sad  spot  where  the  wanderer  had  died. 

Sir  Walter  Scott. 
"Helvellyn." 


Welcome,  maids  of  honour  ! 
You  do  bring 
In  the  spring, 
And  wait  upon  her. 
She  has  virgins  many 
Fresh  and  fair ; 
Yet  ye  are 
More  sweet  than  any. 

Herrick. 
"  To  Violets." 


COMBINATIONS   OF   VERSES.  83 

He  saw  my  anger  was  sincere, 

And  lovingly  began  to  chide  me  ; 
And  wiping  from  my  cheek  the  tear, 

He  sat  him  on  the  grass  beside  me. 
He  feigned  such  pretty  amorous  love, 

Breathed  such  sweet  vows  one  after  other, 
I  could  but  smile  while  whispering  low — 

Be  quiet,  do,  I'll  call  my  mother. 

C.  M. 

Stone  walls  do  not  a  prison  make, 

Nor  iron  bars  a  cage  ; 
Minds  innocent  and  quiet  take 

That  for  a  hermitage  : 
If  I  have  freedom  in  my  love, 

And  in  my  soul  am  free, 
Angels  alone  that  soar  above 

Enjoy  such  liberty. 

Lovelace. 
"  To  Althea,  from  prison." 

'Twas  twilight,  and  the  sunless  day  went  down 

Over  the  waste  of  waters  ;  like  a  veil, 
Which,  if  withdrawn,  would  but  disclose  the  frown 

Of  one  whose  hate  is  masked  but  to  assail. 
Thus  to  their  hopeless  eyes  the  night  was  shown, 

And  grimly  darkled  o'er  the  faces  pale, 
And  the  dim  desolate  deep  :  twelve  days  had  Fear- 
Been  their  familiar,  and  now  Death  was  here  ! 

Byron* 
"  Don  Juan.."' 

Draw  near, 

You  lovers  that  complain, 

Of  Fortune  or  Disdain, 
And  to  my  ashes  lend  a  tear  ; 
Melt  the  hard  marble  with  your  groans, 
And  soften  the  relentless  stones, 


84  OR  THOME  TR  Y. 

Whose  cold  embraces  the  sad  subject  hide, 
Of  all  Love's  cruelties  and  Beauty's  pride  ! 

T.  Stavley. 

.  Sweetest  love  !  I  do  not  go 

For  weariness  of  thee, 
Nor  in  hope  the  world  can  show 
A  fairer  love  to  me  : 
But  since  that  I 
Must  die  at  last,  'tis  best 
Thus  to  use  myself  in  jest, 
By  feigned  death  to  die. 

Donne. 
"  To  his  Love,  on  going  a  Journey." 

She  spoke  and  wept  :  the  dark  and  azure  well 
Sparkled  beneath  the  shower  of  her  bright  tears, 

And  every  little  circlet  where  they  fell, 
Flung  to  the  cavern-roof  inconstant  spheres 

And  intertangled  lines  of  light : — a  knell 
Of  sobbing  voices  came  upon  her  ears 

From  those  departing  Forms,  o'er  the  serene 

Of  the  white  streams  and  of  the  forest  green. 

Shelley. 
"  Witch  of  Atlas." 

On  the  door  you  will  not  enter, 

I  have  gazed  too  long — adieu  ! 
Hope  withdraws  her  peradventure — 
Death  is  near  me, — and  not  you  / 
Come,  O  lover, 
Close  and  cover 

These  poor  eyes,  you  called,  I  ween, 
"  Sweetest  eyes  were  ever  seen." 

Mrs.  Browning. 
"  Catarina  to  Camoens.1 

Speak,  speak,  thou  fearful  guest ! 
Who,  with  thy  hollow  breast 
Still  in  rude  armour  drest, 


COMBINATIONS   OF   VERSES.  85 

Comest  to  daunt  me  ! 

Wrapt  not  in  Eastern  balms, 

But  with  thy  fleshless  palms 

Stretched,  as  if  asking  alms, 

Why  dost  thou  haunt  me  ? 

Longfellow. 
"  The  Spectre  in  Armour." 

(/z).  STANZAS  OF  NINE  VERSES. 

One  particular  arrangement  of  nine-line  verse  is 
known  as  the  Spenserian  stanza,  being  first  used  by 
Spenser  in  his  Fairie  Queene.  It  consists  of  eight 
heroics  followed  by  an  Alexandrine,  and  these  are 
made  to  rhyme  in  three  sets,  1,3;  2,  4,  5,  7  ;  6,  8, 
9.  Though  it  is  thus  complex  in  structure,  there 
is  sufficient  variety  in  its  stately  swing  to  render  it 
suitable,  either  for  lengthy  or  short  compositions, 
and  to  make  it  a  favourite  form  with  most  of  our 
poets.  Besides  the  Fairie  Queene,  Thomson's  Castle 
of  Indolence,  Beattie's  Minstrel,  Burns's  Cotter's  Sat- 
urday Night,  Byron's  Childe  Harold,  and  Shelley's 
Revolt  of  Islam,  are  written  in  it.  A  stanza  from 
each  of  these  poems  follows  : 

His  life  was  nigh  into  death's  door  yplast, 
And  thread-bare  cote  and  cobbled  shoes  he  wore  ; 
Ne  scarce  good  morsell  all  his  life  did  taste  ; 
But  both  from  backe  and  bellie  still  did  spare, 
To  fill  his  bags,  and  richesse  to  compare  : 
Yet  childe  ne  kinsman  living  had  he  none 
To  leave  them  to  ;  but  thorough  daily  care 
To  get,  and  nightly  feare  to  lose,  his  owne, 
Ke  led  a  wretched  life,  unto  himselfe  unknowne. 

Spenser. 
"  Avarice. 


86  OR  THOME  TRY. 

I  care  not,  Fortune,  what  you  me  deny  ; 
You  cannot  rob  me  of  free  Nature's  grace  ; 
You  cannot  shut  the  windows  of  the  sky, 
Through  which  Aurora  shows  her  morning  face  ; 
You  cannot  bar  my  constant  feet  to  trace 
The  woods  and  lawns,  by  living  stream,  at  eve  : 
Let  health  my  nerves  and  finer  fibres  brace, 
And  I  their  toys  to  the  great  children  leave  ; 
Of  fancy,  reason,  virtue,  nought  can  me  bereave. 

Thomson. 

Ah  !  who  can  tell  how  hard  it  is  to  climb 
The  steep  where  Fame's  proud  temple  shines  afar; 
Ah  !  who  can  tell  how  many  a  soul  sublime 
Has  felt  the  influence  of  malignant  star, 
And  waged  with  Fortune  an  eternal  war ; 
Checked  by  the  scoff  of  Pride,  by  Envy's  frown, 
And  Poverty's  unconquerable  bar, 
In  life's  low  vale  remote  has  pined  alone, 
Then  dropped  into  the  grave,  unpitied  and  unknown. 

Beattie. 

Dr.  Beattie  says  of  this  stanza  :  "  I  am  surprised 
to  find  the  structure  of  Spenser's  complicated  stanza 
so  little  troublesome.  I  think  it  the  most  harmo- 
nious that  ever  was  contrived.  It  admits  of  more 
variety  of  pauses  than  either  the  couplet  or  the 
alternate  rhyme  [he  means  the  stanza  of  four],  and 
it  concludes  with  a  pomp  and  majesty  of  sound 
which  to  my  ear  is  wonderfully  delightful.  It  seems 
also  very  well  adapted  to  the  genius  of  our  language, 
which  from  its  irregularity  of  inflexion  and  number 
of  monosyllables,  abounds  in  diversified  terminations 
and  consequently  renders  our  poetry  susceptible  of 
an  endless  variety  of  legitimate  rhymes.* 

*  Forbes's  "Life  of  Beattie." 


COMBINATIONS   OF   VERSES.  8; 

O  happy  love  !  where  love  like  this  is  found  ! 
O  heart-felt  raptures  !  bliss  beyond  compare  ! 
I've  paced  much  this  weary,  mortal  round, 
And  sage  experience  bids  me  this  declare — 
If  Heaven  a  draught  of  heavenly  pleasure  spare, 
One  cordial  in  this  melancholy  vale, 
'Tis  when  a  youthful,  loving,  modest  pair 
In  other's  arms  breathe  out  the  tender  tale, 
Beneath  the  milk-white  thorn  that  scents  the  evening  gale. 

Burns. 


Roll  on,  thou  deep  and  dark  blue  Ocean — roll ! 
Ten  thousand  fleets  sweep  over  thee  in  vain  ; 
Man  marks  the  earth  with  ruin — his  control 
Stops  with  the  shore  ;  upon  the  watery  plain 
The  wrecks  are  all  thy  deed  ;  nor  doth  remain 
A  shadow  of  man's  ravage,  save  his  own, 
When,  for  a  moment,  like  a  drop  of  rain 
He  sinks  into  thy  depths  with  bubbling  groan, 
Without  a  grave,  unknelled,  uncoffined,  and  unknown. 

Byron. 

Specimens  of  other  nine-line  stanzas,  not  Spen- 
serian, follow. 


If  thou  beest  born  to  strange  sights, 

Things  invisible  to  see, 
Ride  ten  thousand  days  and  nights 

Till  age  snow  white  hairs  on  thee  ; 
Then,  when  thou  return'st  wilt  tell  me 
All  strange  wonders  that  befell  thee, 
And  swear, 
Nowhere, 
Lives  a  woman  true  and  fair. 

Donne. 
"  Fair  and  False.' 


88  ORTHOMETRY. 

It's  wiser  being  good  than  bad  ; 

It's  safer  being  meek  than  fierce  ; 
It's  fitter  being  sane  than  mad. 

My  own  hope  is,  a  sin  will  pierce 
The  thickest  cloud  earth  ever  stretched  ; 

That  after  Last  returns  the  First, 
Though  a  wide  compass  round  be  fetched  ; 

That  what  began  best  can't  prove  worst, 
Nor  what  God  blessed  once,  prove  accurst. 

JZ.  Browning. 
"  Apparant  Failure. 

Alas  !  I  have  nor  hope,  nor  health, 

Nor  peace  within,  nor  calm  around, 

Nor  that  content,  surpassing  wealth, 
The  sage  in  meditation  found, 
And  walked  with  inward  glory  crowned  ; 

Nor  fame,  nor  power,  nor  love,  nor  leisure, 
Others  I  see  whom  these  surround, — 

Smiling  they  live,  and  call  life  pleasure  : 

To  me  life's  cup  has  been  dealt  in  another  measure. 

Shelley. 


(/').  STANZAS  OF  TEN  VERSES. 

To  each  his  sufferings  ;  all  are  men 

Condemned  alike  to  groan, 
The  tender  for  another's  pain, 

Th'  unfeeling  for  his  own. 
Yet  ah  !  why  should  they  know  their  fate  ? 
Since  sorrow  never  comes  too  late, 

And  happiness  too  swiftly  flies  ; 
Thought  would  destroy  their  paradise. — 
No  more  ; — where  ignorance  is  bliss 

'Tis  folly  to  be  wise. 

Gray. 
"  On  a  Distant  Prospect  of  Eton  College. 


COMBINATIONS   OF   VERSES.  89 

Fair  daffodils,  we  weep  to  see 
You  haste  away  so  soon  ; 
As  yet  the  early  rising  sun 

Has  not  attained  his  noon. 

Stay,  stay, 
Until  the  hast'ning  day 

Has  run, 

But  to  the  even-song  ! 
And  having  prayed  together,  we 
Will  go  with  you  along. 

Herrick. 
"  To  Daffodils." 


Freeze,  freeze,  thou  bitter  sky, 
Thou  dost  not  bite  so  nigh 

As  benefits  forgot ; 
Though  thou  the  waters  warp, 
Thy  sting  is  not  so  sharp 

As  friends  remember'd  not. 

Heigh  ho  !  sing  heigh  ho !  unto  the  green  holly, 
Most  friendship  is  feigning,  most  loving  mere  folly. 
Then  heigh  ho  !  the  holly  ! 
This  life  is  most  jolly. 

Shaksfiere. 


The  time  I've  lost  in  wooing, 
In  watching  and  pursuing 

The  light  that  lies 

In  woman's  eyes, 
Has  been  my  heart's  undoing. 
Tho'  wisdom  oft  has  sought  me, 
I  scorned  the  love  she  brought  me. 

My  only  books 

Were  woman's  looks, 
And  folly's  all  they  taught  me. 

Moore. 


9  °  OR  THOMETR  Y. 

She  passed  like  summer  flowers  away. 
Her  aspect  and  her  voice 
Will  never  more  rejoice, 

For  she  lies  hushed  in  cold  decay'; 
Broken  the  golden  bowl, 
Which  held  her  hallowed  soul  : 

It  was  an  idle  boast  to  say 

"  Our  souls  are  as  the  same," 
And  stings  me  now  to  shame  ; 

Her  spirit  went,  and  mine  did  not  obey. 

Thos.  Woollier. 
"My  Beautiful  Lady 


I'm  no  slave  to  such  as  you  be  ; 

Neither  shall  a  snowy  breast, 
Wanton  eye,  or  lip  of  ruby, 
Ever  rob  me  of  my  rest. 
Go,  go,  display 
Thy  beauty's  ray 

To  some  o'er-soon  enamoured  swain  ; 
These  common  wiles 
Of  sighs  and  smiles 
Are  all  bestowed  on  me  in  vain. 

Wither. 


For  thou  wert  born  of  woman  !     Thou  didst  come, 
O  Holiest  !  to  this  world  of  sin  and  gloom, 
Not  in  Thy  omnipotent  array  ; 

And  not  by  thunders  strewed 

Was  Thy  tempestuous  road  ; 

Nor  indignation  burnt  before  Thee  on  Thy  way. 

But  Thee,  a  soft  and  naked  child, 

Thy  mother  undefiled, 
In  the  rude  manger  laid  to  rest 


From  off  her  virgin  breast. 


Milman. 


COMBINATIONS   OF   VERSES. 

How  beautiful  is  night ! 
A  dewy  freshness  fills  the  silent  air ; 
No  mist  obscures,  nor  cloud,  nor  speck,  nor  stain. 
Breaks  the  serene  of  heaven. 
In  full-orbed  glory  yonder  moon  divine 
Rolls  through  the  dark-blue  depths  ; 
Beneath  her  steady  ray 
The  desert-circle  spreads, 
Like  the  round  ocean  girdled  with  the  sky. 
How  beautiful  is  night ! 

Sou  they. 


(j\  STANZAS  OF  ELEVEN  VERSES. 

I  said — Then,  dearest,  since  'tis  so, 
Since  now  at  length  my  fate  I  know, 
Since  nothing  all  my  love  avails, 
Since  all  my  life  seemed  meant  for,  fails, 

Since  this  was  written  and  needs  must  be — 
My  whole  heart  rises  up  to  bless 
Your  name  in  pride  and  thankfulness  ! 
Take  back  the  hope  you  gave — I  claim 
Only  a  memory  of  the  same, — 
And  this  beside,  if  you  will  not  blame, 

Your  leave  for  one  more  last  ride  with  me. 

R.  Browning. 
"  The  Last  Ride  Together." 


The  hour  was  late  ;  the  fire  burned  low, 
The  landlord's  eyes  were  closed  in  sleep, 
And  near  the  story's  end  a  deep 
Sonorous  sound  at  times  was  heard, 
As  when  the  distant  bagpipes  blow. 
At  this  all  laughed  ;  the  landlord  stirred, 
As  one  awakening  from  a  swound, 
And,  gazing  anxiously  around, 


LIBR/fife- 

Of    THE 

IVFftSlTl 


OR  THOME  TR  Y. 

Protested  that  he  had  not  slept, 
But  only  shut  his  eyes,  and  kept 
His  ears  attentive  to  each  word. 

Longfellow. 

"Good  Night." 

God  be  with  thee,  my  beloved.     God  be  with  thee  ! 

Else  alone  thou  goest  forth, 

Thy  face  unto  the  north. — 
Moor  and  pleasance,  all  around  thee  and  beneath  thee, 

Looking"  equal  in  one  snow  ! 

While  I,  who  try  to  reach  thee, 

Vainiy  follow,  vainly  follow, 

With  the  farewell  and  the  hollo, 

And  cannot  reach  thee  so. 

Alas  !  I  can  but  teach  thee, 
God  be  with  thee,  my  beloved.     God  be  with  thee  ! 

Mrs.  Browning. 
"  A  Valediction." 

(k\  STANZAS  OF  TWELVE  VERSES. 

You'll  come  to  our  ball ;  since  we  parted, 

I've  thought  of  you  more  than  I'll  say ; 
Indeed,  I  was  half  broken-hearted 

For  a  week,  when  they  took  you  away. 
Fond  fancy  brought  back  to  my  slumbers 

Our  walks  on  the  Ness  and  the  Den, 
And  echoed  the  musical  numbers 

Which  you  used  to  sing  to  me  then. 
I  know  the  romance,  since  it's  over, 

'Twere  idle,  or  worse  to  recall  ; 
I  know  you're  a  terrible  rover, 

But,  Clarence,  you'll  come  to  our  ball  ? 

Praed. 

O  what  a  plague  is  love ! 

I  cannot  bear  it ; 
She  will  inconstant  prove, 

I  greatly  fear  it. 


COMBINATIONS   OF   VERSES.  93 

It  so  torments  my  mind 

That  my  heart  faileth  ; 
She  wavers  with  the  wind 

As  a  ship  saileth. 
Please  her  as  best  I  may, 
She  loves  still  to  gainsay  : 
Alack  !  and  well-a-day  ! 

Philinda  flouts  me  ! 

Anon. 

Here  was  I  with  my  arm  and  heart 

And  brain,  all  yours  for  a  word,  a  want, 
Put  into  a  look — just  a  look,  your  part  — 

While  mine  to  repay  it  ...  valiant  vaunt. 
Were  the  woman  that's  dead  alive  to  hear, 
Had  her  lover,  that's  lost,  love's  proof  to  show  ! 
But  I  cannot  show  it ;  you  cannot  speak 

From  the  churchyard  neither,  miles  removed, 
Though  I  feel  by  a  pulse  within  my  cheek, 

Which  stabs  and  stops,  that  the  woman  I  loved 
Needs  help  in  her  grave,  and  finds  none  near, 

Wants  warmth  from  the  heart  which  sends  it — so  ! 

R.  Browning. 
"Too  Late." 

With  blackest  moss  the  flower-plots 

Were  thickly  crusted,  one  and  all : 
The  rusted  nails  fell  from  the  knots 

That  held  the  pear  to  the  gable-wall. 
The  broken  sheds  look'd  sad  and  strange  : 
Uplifted  was  the  clinking  latch  ; 
Weeded  and  worn  the  ancient  thatch 
Upon  the  lonely  moated  grange. 

She  only  said,  "  My  life  is  dreary  ; 

He  cometh  not,"  she  said  ; 
She  said,  "  I  am  aweary,  aweary, 
I  would  that  I  were  dead  ! " 

Tennyson. 
"  Mariana.1 


94  ORTHOMETRY. 

See,  O  see, 

How  every  tree, 

Every  bower, 

Every  flower, 
A  new  life  gives  to  others'  joys  : 

Whilst  that  I, 

Grief-stricken,  lie, 

Nor  can  meet 

With  any  sweet, 
But  what  faster  mine  destroys. 
What  are  all  the  senses'  pleasures, 
When  the  mind  has  lost  all  measures  ? 


(/).  STANZAS  OF  MORE  THAN  TWELVE*  VERSES. 

Long  years  of  toil  and  care, 
And  pain  and  poverty,  have  passed 
Since  last  I  listened  to  her  prayer, 

And  looked  upon  her  last. 
Yet  how  she  looked,  and  how  she  smiled 
Upon  me,  while  a  playful  child, 

The  lustre  of  her  eye, 
The  kind  caress,  the  fond  embrace, 
The  reverence  of  her  placid  face, 

Within  my  memory  lie 
As  fresh  as  they  had  only  been 
Bestowed,  and  felt,  and  heard,  and  seen, 
Since  yesterday  went  by. 

John  Bethune. 
"  My  Grandmother.' 

A  glorious  people  vibrated  again 

The  lightning  of  the  nations  :  Liberty 
From  heart  to  heart,  from  tower  to  tower,  o'er  Spain, 

Scattering  contagious  fire  into  the  sky, 

*  For  a  full  account  of  the  Sonnet,  see  page  203. 


COMBINATIONS   OF   VERSES.  95 

Gleamed.     My  soul  spurned  the  chains  of  its  dismay, 
And,  in  the  rapid  plumes  of  song, 
Clothed  itself,  sublime  and  strong  ; 
As  a  young  eagle  soars  the  morning  clouds  among, 
Hovering  in  verse  o'er  its  accustomed  prey  ; 
Till  from  its  station  in  the  heaven  of  fame 
The  Spirit's  whirlwind  rapt  it,  and  the  ray 

Of  the  remotest  sphere  of  living  flame 
Which  paves  the  void  was  from  behind  it  flung. 
As  foam  from  a  ship's  swiftness,  when  there  came 
A  voice  out  of  the  deep  :  I  will  record  the  same. 

Shelley. 
"Ode  to  Liberty." 


With  deep  affection, 
And  recollection, 
I  often  think  of 

Those  Shandon  bells, 
Whose  sounds  so  wide  would 
In  my  days  of  childhood, 
Fling  round  my  cradle 

Their  magic  spells. 
On  this  I  ponder, 
Where'er  I  wander, 
And  thus  grow  fonder, 

Sweet  Cork,  of  thee  ; 
With  thy  bells  of  Shandon, 
That  sound  so  grand  on 
The  pleasant  waters 

Of  the  river  Lee. 

Francis  Mahony 
(Father  Prout). 


Shelley's  beautiful  ode,  The  Cloud,  is  built  up  of 
stanzas  of  twelve,  fourteen,  and  eighteen  verses,  the 
first  of  which  is  here  given. 


96  OR  THOME  TR  Y. 

I  bring  fresh  showers  for  the  thirsting  flowers 

From  the  seas  and  the  streams  ; 
I  wear  light  shade  for  the  leaves  when  laid 

In  their  noon-day  dreams  ; 
From  my  wings  are  shaken  the  dews  that  waken 

The  sweet  birds  every  one, 
When  rocked  to  rest  on  their  mother's  breast, 

As  she  dances  about  the  sun. 
I  wield  the  flail  of  the  lashing  hail, 

And  whiten  the  green  plains  under  ; 
And  then  again  1  dissolve  in  rain, 

And  laugh  as  I  pass  in  thunder. 

Shelley. 


Terza  Rima,  in  which  Dante's  Divine  Comedy  is 
written,  furnishes  another  variety  of  verse  arrange- 
ment intermediate  between  the  continuous  and 
stanzaic  forms.  It  consists  of  heroics  with  three 
rhymes  at  intervals.  In  the  first  tercet  the  first 
line  rhymes  with  the  third,  and  the  second  with 
the  first  and  third  of  the  following  tercet,  and  so  on 
continuously  throughout.  Even  when  the  groups 
are  separated,  as  in  Shelley's  Triumph  of  Life,  the 
sense  is  continuous,  and  it  is  therefore  usual  to  pre- 
sent them  in  unbroken  succession.  The  following 
extract  from  Byron's  Prophecy  of  Dante  furnishes 
an  excellent  example  : 


Many  are  the  poets  who  have  never  penned 
Their  inspiration,  and  perchance  the  best : 

They  felt,  and  loved,  and  died,  but  would  not  lend 
Their  thoughts  to  meaner  beings  ;  they  compressed 

The  good  within  them,  and  rejoined  the  stars 
Unlaureled  upon  earth,  but  far  more  blest 


COMBINATIONS   OF  VERSES.  97 

Than  those  who  are  degraded  by  the  jars 

Of  passion,  and  their  frailties  linked  to  fame, 
Conquerors  of  high  renown,  but  full  of  scars. 

Many  are  the  poets,  but  without  the  name  ; 
For  what  is  poesy  but  to  create 

From  overfeeling  good  or  ill,  and  aim 
At  an  eternal  life  beyond  our  fate, 

And  be  the  new  Prometheus  of  new  men, 
Bestowing  fire  from  heaven,  and  then  too  late 

Feeling  the  pleasure  given  repaid  with  pain, 
And  vultures  to  the  heart  of  the  bestower, 

Who,  having  lavished  his  high  gift  in  vain, 
Lies  chained  to  his  bare  rock  by  the  seashore. 

Byron. 


There  was  a  youth,  who,  as  with  toil  and  travel, 
Had  grown  quite  weak  and  grey  before  his  time  ; 
Nor  any  could  the  restless  griefs  unravel 

Which  burned  within  him,  withering  up  his  prime 
And  goading  him,  like  fiends,  from  land  to  land. 
Not  his  the  load  of  any  secret  crime, 

For  nought  of  ill  his  heart  could  understand, 
But  pity  and  wild  sorrow  for  the  same  ;  — 
Not  his  the  thirst  for  glory  or  command 

Baffled  with  blast  of  hope-consuming  shame  ; 
Nor  evil  joys  which  fire  the  vulgar  breast 
And  quench  in  speedy  smoke  its  feeble  flame, 

Had  left  within  his  soul  their  dark  unrest : 
Nor  what  religion  fables  of  the  grave 
Feared  he, — Philosophy's  accepted  guest. 

Shelley 


9  8  OR  THOME  TR  Y. 

(in}.   IRREGULAR  STANZAS. 

Most  of  the  finest  odes  in  our  language  are  ex- 
ceedingly complex  in  structure,  both  in  variety  of 
metre  and  length  of  verse,  and  they  are  usually 
broken  up  into  stanzas  of  varying  length,  from  four 
to  upwards  of  twenty  lines.  Amongst  the  most 
noted  compositions  of  this  kind  may  be  enumerated 
Milton's  Ode  on  the  Nativity  of  Christ,  Dryden's 
Alexander's  Feast,  Pope's  Ode  on  St.  Cecilia  s  Day, 
Gray's  Bard  and  On  a  Distant  Prospect  of  Eton  Col- 
lege, Shelley's  West  Wind  and  The  Cloud.  Collins' s 
Ode  on  the  Passions  is  here  quoted  at  length  as  a 
typical  specimen. 


THE    PASSIONS. 

When  Music,  heavenly  maid,  was  young, 
While  yet  in  early  Greece  she  sung, 
The  Passions  oft,  to  hear  her  skill, 
Thronged  around  her  magic  cell. 

Exulting,  trembling,  raging,  fainting, 
Possess'd  beyond  the  Muse's  painting; 
By  turns  they  felt  the  glowing  mind 
Disturbed,  delighted,  raised,  refined  ; 
Till  once,  'tis  said,  when  all  were  fired, 
Fill'd  with  fury,  rapt,  inspired, 
From  the  supporting  myrtles  round 
They  snatch'd  her  instruments  of  sound  j 
And  as  they  oft  had  heard  apart 
Sweet  lessons  of  her  forceful  art, 
Each,  for  madness  ruled  the  hour, 
Would  prove  his  own  expressive  power. 


COMBINATIONS   OF   VERSES.  99 

First  Fear  his  hand,  its  skill  to  try, 

Amid  the  chords,  bewilder' d  laid  ; 
And  back  recoil'd,  he  knew  not  why, 

E'en  at  the  sound  himself  had  made. 
Next  Anger  rush'd,  his  eyes  on  fire, 

In  lightnings  own'd  his  secret  stings  ; 
In  one  rude  clash  he  struck  the  lyre, 

And  swept  with  hurried  hand  the  strings. 

With  woeful  measure  wan  Despair — 

Low  sullen  sounds  his  grief  beguiled  ; 
A  solemn,  strange,  and  mingled  air  ; 

'T.vas  sad  by  fits,  by  starts  'twas  wild. 

But  thou,  O  Hope  !  with  eyes  so  fair 
What  was  thy  delighted  measure  ? 
Still  it  whispered  promised  pleasure, 
And  ba(1e  the  lovely  scenes  at  distance  hail. 

Still  would  her  touch  the  strain  prolong  ; 
And  from  the  rocks,  the  woods,  the  vale, 

She  call'd  on  Echo  still  through  all  the  song  ; 
And  where  her  sweetest  theme  she  chose, 
A  soft  responsive  voice  was  heard  at  every  close  ; 
And  Hope  enchanted,  smiled  and  waved  her  golden  hair  •. 
And  longer  had  she  sung — but  with  a  frown 

Revenge  impatient  rose  ; 

He  threw  his  blood-stained  sword  in  thunder  down 
And  with  a  withering  look, 
The  war-denouncing  trumpet  took, 
And  blew  a  blast  so  loud  and  dread, 
Were  ne'er  prophetic  sounds  so  full  of  woe  ; 
And  ever  and  anon  he  beat 
The  double  drum  with  furious  heat ; 
And  though  sometimes,  each  dreary  pause  between, 
Dejected  Pity  at  his  side 
Her  soul-subduing  voice  applied, 
Yet  still  he  kept  his  wild  unalter'd  mien, 
While  each  strain'd  ball  of  sight  secm'd  bursting  from  his 
head. 


100  ORTHOMETRY. 

Thy  numbers,  Jealousy,  to  nought  were  fix'd ; 

Sad  proof  of  thy  distressful  state  ; 
Of  diff'ring  themes  the  veering  song  was  mix'd, 

And  now  it  courted  Love,  now  raving  call'd  on  Hate. 

With  eyes  upraised,  as  one  inspired, 

Pale  Melancholy  sat  retired, 

And  from  her  wild  sequester'd  seat, 

In  notes  by  distance  made  more  sweet, 
Pour'd  through  the  mellow  horn  her  pensive  soul ; 

And  dashing  soft  from  rocks  around, 

Bubbling  runnels  join'd  the  sound  ; 
Through  glades  and  glooms  the  mingled  measure  stole  : 

Or  o'er  some  haunted  streams  with  fond  delay, 
Round  a  holy  calm  diffusing, 
Love  of  peace  and  lonely  musing, 

In  hollow  murmurs  died  away. 

But  oh  !  how  alter'd  was  its  sprightly  tone 

When  Cheerfulness,  a  nymph  of  healthiest  hue, 
Her  bow  across  her  shoulder  flung, 

Her  buskin  gemmed  with  morning  dew, 
Blew  an  inspiring  air  that  dale  and  thicket  rung, 
The  hunter's  call,  to  fawn  and  dryad  known 

The  oak-crowned  sisters,  and  their  chaste-eyed  queen, 

Satyrs  and  sylvan  boys,  were  seen 

Peeping  from  forth  their  alleys  green  ; 
Brown  Exercise  rejoiced  to  hear, 
And  Sport  leap'd  up,  and  seized  his  beechen  spear. 

Last  came  Joy's  ecstatic  trial : 

He  with  viny  crown  advancing, 
First  to  the  lively  pipe  his  hand  address'd  ; 
But  soon  he  saw  the  brisk  awakening  viol, 

Whose  sweet  entrancing  voice  he  loved  the  best. 
They  would  have  thought  who  heard  the  strain, 

They  saw  in  Tempe's  vale  her  native  maids. 
.    Amid  the  festal  sounding  shades, 

To  some  unwearied  minstrel  dancing: 


COMBINATIONS   OF   VERSES.  IOI 

While,  as  his  flying  fingers  kiss'd  the  strings, 
Love  framed  with  Mirth  a  gay  fantastic  round, 
Loose  were  her  tresses  seen,  her  zone  unbound  : 

And  he,  amidst  his  frolic  play, 

As  it  he  would  the  charming  air  repay, 
Shook  thousand  odours  from  his  dewy  wings. 

O  Music  !  sphere-descended  maid, 
Friend  of  pleasure,  wisdom's  aid  ! 
Why,  goddess  !  why,  to  us  denied, 
Lay'st  thou  thy  ancient  lyre  aside  ? 
As  in  that  loved  Athenian  bower, 
You  learn  an  all-commanding  power  ; 
Thy  mimic  soul,  O  nymph  endeared, 
Can  well  recall  what  then  it  heard, 
Where  is  thy  native  simple  heart, 
Devote  to  virtue,  fancy,  art  ? 
Arise,  as  in  that  elder  time, 
Warm,  energic,  chaste,  sublime  ! 
Thy  wonders  in  that  godlike  age 
Fill  thy  recording  sister's  page — 
'Tis  said,  and  I  believe  the  tale, 
Thy  humblest  reed  could  more  prevail, 
Had  more  of  strength,  diviner  rage, 
Than  all  that  charms  this  laggard  age  ; 
Even  all  at  once  together  found, 
Cecilia's  mingled  world  of  sound. 
Oh,  bid  our  vain  endeavours  cease, 
Revive  the  just  designs  of  Greece  ; 
Return  in  all  thy  simple  state  ; 
Confirm  the  tales  her  sons  relate. 


POETIC  LICENCES. 

IN  this  chapter  we  are  called  upon  to  deal  with  all 
the  departures  from  normal  exactitude  of  which 
writers  of  verse  avail  themselves.  We  shall  find 
that  it  is  not  so  much  an  enquiry  into  the  nature 
and  extent  of  the  liberty  the  poet  is  allowed,  as  of 
the  kind  and  amount  he  thinks  fit  to  take.  Verse- 
making  preceded  prosodial  laws,  as  speech  and 
writing  existed  before  the  rules  of  grammar  were 
drawn  up.  The  poet  presents  us  with  the  verses  he 
has  framed  to  his  own  sweet  will,  and  all  that  is 
left  to  prosaic  mortals  is  to  approve  or  condemn 
them.  The  restrictions  and  difficulties  that  the 
artist,  whose  material  is  words,  has  to  contend  with 
are  at  once  so  embarrassing  and  unavoidable,  that 
what  are  called  licences  would  be  more  truly  desig- 
nated necessities.  The  versifier  is  expected  to 
conform  to  strict  grammatical  rule ;  he  has  to 
manipulate  sounds  and  their  symbols  which  bristle 
with  irregularities  and  difficulties  of  many  kinds, 
and  yet  he  must  produce  melody  which  is  pleasing 
and  varied.  To  accomplish  all  this  he  is  compelled 
to  become,  in  a  sense,  a  law  unto  himself,  and 
therefore  he  makes  no  scruple  in  surmounting 
obstacles  to  trespass  the  boundaries  laid  down  for 
ordinary  ^observance. 


POETIC  LICENCES.  103 

These  so-called  poetic  licences  may  be  conveni- 
ently grouped  together  and  considered  under  three 
heads — Grammatical^  Orthographical^  and  Metrical. 


r.— GRAMMATICAL  LICENCES. 

These  embrace  deviations  from  ordinary  forms  of 
expression,  or  the  strict  grammatical  structure  of 
sentences.  In  prose  most  of  them  would  be  con- 
sidered solecisms,  but  in  verse  they  are  allowable  in 
order  to  meet  the  exigencies  of  rhythm,  or  to  add 
variety  and  elegance  to  the  composition. 

(a}.  ELLIPSIS. 

This  is  the  omission  of  words  which  are  necessary 
to  complete  the  construction  though  not  to  convey 
the  sense. 

Cold,  cold,  my  girl  ? 

"  Othello? 

What !  all  my  pretty  chickens  and  their  dam 
At  one  fell  swoop  1 

"Macbeth." 

Is  there  for  honest  poverty, 

That  hangs  his  head,  and  a'  that  ? 

Bnr?is. 

A  form  of  ellipsis  in  which  the  consequence  is 
suppressed  to  be  supplied  by  the  hearer's  mind  is 
called  Aposiopesis,  e.g.  : 

If  she  sustain  him  and  his  hundred  knights 
When  I  have  shown  the  unfitness — - :  How  now,  Oswald  ? 

ear" 


104  OR  THOME TR  Y. 

They  fell  together  all  as  by  consent  ; 

They  dropped  as  by  a  thunder  stroke.     What  might, 

Worthy  Sebastian  ?  O  what  might  ? — No  more  : 

And  yet,  methinks,  I  see  it  in  thy  face 

What  thou  should' st  be  :  the  occasion  speaks  thee  ;  and 

My  strong  imagination  sees  a  crown 

Dropping  upon  thy  head. 

"  Tempest" 

Omission  of  conjunctions  is  called  A synddon. 

(b\  PLEONASM 

is  the  introduction  of  superfluous  words,  in  order 
to  strengthen  the  expression  or  to  keep  the  mind 
dwelling  upon  the  thought,  e.g.  :  What  a  length  of 
tail  behind  !  The  sea-girt  isle.  In  prose  these  would 
be  condemned  as  tautological. 

• 

Nor  to  these  idle  orbs  does  day  appear, 

Or  sun,  or  moon,  or  stars,  throughout  the  year, 

Or  man,  or  woman. 

Milton. 

Now  all  these  things  are  over — yes,  all  thy  pretty  ways — 
Thy  needlework,  thy  prattle,  thy  snatches  of  old  lays. 

Macaulay. 

Such  repetitions  as  these,  says  Coleridge,  consti- 
tute beauty  of  the  highest  kind. 

(c].    EN  ALL  AGE 

is  the  use  of  one  part  of  speech  for  another,  adjec- 
tives for  adverbs,  the  past  tense  for  the  participle, 
as  : 

Those  more  easiest  who  have  learned  to  dance. 

Po^e. 


POETIC  LICENCES.  105 

The  idols  are  broke  in  the  temple  of  Baal. 

Byron. 
They  fall  successive,  and  successive  rise. 

Pope. 

\ 

(d).  HYPERBATON 

is  the  transposition  of  words  beyond  what  would  be 
allowable  even  in  rhetorical  prose,  e.g.  : 

Idle  after  dinner,  in  his  chair, 
Sat  a  farmer,  ruddy,  fat,  and  fair. 

Tennyson. 

From  morn 
To  noon  he  fell,  from  noon  to  dewy  eve, 

A  summer's  day. 

Milton. 

High  on  a  throne  of  royal  state,  which  far 
Outshone  the  wealth  of  Ormuz  or  of  Ind, 
Or  where  the  gorgeous  East,  with  richest  hand, 
Showers  on  her  kings  barbaric  pearl  and  gold, 
Satan  exalted  sat. 

Milton. 

Far  along, 

From  peak  to  peak,  the  rattling  crags  among, 
Leaps  the  live  thunder. 

Byron. 

(e\  ANACOLUTHON. 

This   is  the  want  of  proper  sequence  in  the  con- 
struction of  a  compound  sentence,  as  : 

My  name  is  Edgar,  and  thy  father's  son. 

"  King  Lear? 


I O  6  OR  THOME  TR  Y. 

Why  I  do  trifle  thus  with  his  despair 
Is  done  to  cure  it. 

' '  King  Lear. ' ' 

God  from  the  Mount  of  Sinai,  whose  gray  top 
Shall  tremble,  he  descending,  shall  himself, 
In  thunder,  lightning,  and  loud  trumpets'  sound, 
Ordain  them  laws. 

Milto?i. 


2.— ORTHOGRAPHICAL   LICENCES. 

These  are  deviations  from  the  ordinary  spelling, 
and  therefore  in  the  pronunciation  of  words,  their 
object  being  to  shorten  or  lengthen  a  verse  by  a 
syllable. 

(a).  ELISION 

is  the  omission  of  a  letter  or  syllable  at  the  begin- 
ning, middle,  or  end  of  a  word,  e.g.  :  'gainst, 
'scape,  o'er,  ta'en,  ope',  th'.  At  the  beginning  this 
is  known  as  aphxresis,  in  the  middle  syncope,  at  the 
end  apocope. 

(b\  PROSTHESIS 

is  prefixing  an  expletive  syllable  to  a  word  ;  as, 
yclad,  beweep. 

(c).  PARAGOGE 

adds  an  expletive  syllable  to  a  word;  as  withouten, 
loved. 

(d}.  SYN.^RESIS 

is  the  merging  of  two  syllables  into  one,  as  maybe 
done  with  such  words  as  alien,  flower,  familiar, 
amorous,  murmuring,  mouldering. 


POETIC  LICENCES.  107 

(c).  DLERESIS 

is  the  separation  of  a  diphthong*  into  two  sounds,  as 
is  occasionally  found  in  our  older  poets ;  such  as 
regarding  the  endings  tion,  sion,  and  words  like 
hire,  dire  as  dissyllables. 

And  so  by  many  winding  nooks  he  strays, 
With  willing  spirit  to  the  wide  o-cean. 

(/).  TMESIS 

is  the  insertion  of  a  word  between  the  parts  of  a 
compound ;  as,  to  us  ward,  on  which  side  soever. 

To  these  may  be  added  the  use  of  archaisms,  i.e. 
old  forms  of  words  that  have  become  otherwise  obso- 
lete ;  as  wis  for  know,  e'en  or  eyne  for  eyes. 

Some  of  these  orthographical  licences  present 
difficulties  which  have  given  rise  to  so  much 
diverse  opinion  that  it  may  be  useful  to  illustrate 
them  more  in  detail.  Elisions,  generally  speaking, 
should  not  be  such  as  to  create  words  of  unpleasing 
sound  or  difficult  pronunciation.  The  following 
.verse  is  somewhat  harsh,  for  instance  : 

Then  'gan  th'  obstrep'rous  mob  to  rage. 

Whereas  in  the  opening  line  of  The  Paradise  Lost 
the  last  two  syllables  of  disobedience  are  merged 
without  any  unpleasant  effect. 

Of  man's  first  disobedience,  and  the  fruit — 

One  complaint  made  against  our  language  is 
that  its  consonants  are  too  numerous  in  proportion 


I O  8  OR  THOMETR  Y. 

to  the  vowels,  and  the  effect  of  elision  is  to  increase 
that  proportion. 

The  second  person  singular  of  our  verb  terminates 
with  letters  that  do  not  well  accommodate  them- 
selves to  elisions,  when  the  verb  itself  ends  with  a 
consonant ; 

111  thou  consider'st  that  the  kind  are  brave. 

That  usher'st  in  the  sun,  and  still  prepar'st  its  way. 

Thou  mourn' st  them  living,  as  already  dead. 

These  elisions  are  harsh :  but  where  the  verb  is 
regular,  as  love,  loved,  fear,  feared,  £c.,  the  same 
person  in  the  past  time  presents  an  obstacle  almost 
insurmountable  to  any  elision.  Yet  some  few 
have  attempted  it,  making  indeed  two  elisions,  as, 

Thou  shar'd'st  their  nature,  insolence,  and  fate, 

But  to  others  this  rough  assemblage  of  consonants 
has  appeared  so  formidable  that,  rather  than  meet 
it,  they  have  ventured  to  trespass  upon  their  gram- 
mar rules.  For  instance,  in  Pope's  Messiah  this 
passage  occurs — 

O  Thou,  my  voice  inspire, 
Who  touch* d  Isaiah's  hallowed  lips  with  fire  ! 

— where  touch'd  is  used  for  touch'd'st. 

The  occasions  for  making  such  elisions  as  this 
ought  to  be  avoided  ;  but  unfortunately  they  occur 
oftenest  in  those  kinds  of  poetry  where  they  are 
least  admissible.  For  with  respect  to  elisions,  it  is 


POETIC  LICENCES.  109 

to  be  observed  that,  as  in  familiar  discourse  we  use 
without  scruple  those  which  we  should  not  allow 
in  the  solemn  recital  of  a  grave  composition,  so  in 
familiar  verse  we  may  admit  those  which  are  to  be 
excluded  from  the  higher  species — from  epic  and 
lyric  poems  and  the  like. 

The  elisions  which  we  meet  with  as  frequently 
as  any  are  of  the  verbs,  substantive  and  auxiliary. 
Many  of  these  are  improper  in  grave  poetry. 

From  Paran's  height  the  One  that's  holy  came. 
But  have  evoked  them  oft,  I'm  sure  in  vain. 
Kill  him,  and  thou'rt  secure  ;  'tis  only  he. 

These  elisions  of  the  verb  substantive  are  none 
of  them  suitable  to  the  rank  of  the  poems  in  which 
they  sfand  ;  neither  are  those  made  of  the  auxiliary 
verbs,  as  I'll,  for  I  will,  he'd,  for  he  would,  &c.,  but 
they  might  all  enter  into  light  pieces  without 
offence ;  as  into  satires,  as  here  : 

'Tis  sad 
To  say  you're  curious  when  we  say  you're  mad. 

I'm  very  sensible  he's  mad  in  law. 

We  find  in  some  of  our  poets  other  elisions  which 
are  faulty,  because  the  letters  which  are  left  do  not 
meet  and  coalesce,  as  they  ought,  into  one  syllable. 
The  following  is  such  : 

We'  allow' d  you  beauty,  and  we  did  submit, 
Shame  and  woe  to  us,  if  we'  our  wealth  obey. 


110  OR  THOME  TR  Y. 

But  a  fault  still  greater  is  here  : 

Sha'n't  I  return  the  vengeance  in  my  power  ? 

This  term,  s/ia'n'f,  is  so  deformed  and  vulgarized  by 
elision  as  to  be  altogether  unfit  to  appear  in  poetry. 
In  justice  to  the  poets  of  the  present  time,  it  is 
to  be  acknowledged  that  they  are  more  correct  and 
guarded  against  these  blemishes ;  and  to  collect 
them  we  are  forced  to  go  back  to  a  former  age. 

Other  elisions,  not  much  practised  by  our  moderns, 
are  made  in  words  of  more  than  one  syllable,  by 
cutting  off  the  last,  like  these  in  Milton  :  * 

Th'  specious  deeds  on  earth  which  glory'  excites, 
To  be  invulnerable'  in  those  bright  arms, 
So  he  with  difficulty'  and  labour  hard. 

But  among  our  earliest  poets  this  sort  of  elision  was 
common  ;  Gower  used  it : 

For  ever  I  wrastle',  and  ever  I  am  behind, 
As  pray  unto  my  Lady'  of  any  help. 

So  did  Chaucer : 

Then  help  me,  Lord,  to-morrow'  in  my  battaille. 
Winnen  thy  cost,  take  her  ensample1  of  me. 
My  body'  is  ay  so  redy'  and  so  penible. 
*  See  Hiatus,  p.  115. 


POETIC  LICENCES.  I  i  i 

For  trouble'  in  earth  take  no  melancholy. 
Be  rich  in  patience,  gif  thou'  in  goods  be  poor  ; 
Who  livis  merry'  he  livis  mightily  : 
Without  gladness  availis  no  treasure. 

The  reader  will  not  fail  to  observe  that,  after  all 
these  elisions,  the  next  word  begins  with  a  vowel, 
and  that  in  general  the  syllables  cut  off  are  short. 

Contractions  are  made,  as  has  been  said,  of  sylla- 
bles which  are  not  separated  by  any  consonant;  these 
our  language  contains  in  great  number  and  variety ; 
particularly  a  large  class  from  the  Latin,  as  motion, 
region,  occasion.  The  two  last  syllables  of  these 
and  other  such  words  are  now  always  contracted 
into  one,  when  used  in  a  verse.  It  was  not  so  for- 
merly : 

His  name  was  heavenly  contemplation  ; 
Of  God  and  goodness  was  his  meditation. 

Spenser. 
"  Fairy  Queen." 

Some  willing  men  that  might  instruct  his  sons, 
And  that  would  stand  to  good  conditions. 

"Hall's  Satires." 

Examples  in  other  words  : 

To  fly  his  step-dame's  love  outrageous. 

Spenser. 
"  Fairy  Queen." 

This  siege  that  hath  engirt  his  marriage. 

Shakspere. 
"  Rape  of  Lucrece." 

Should  bleed  in  his  own  law's  obedience. 


112  OR  THOME  TRY. 

Syllables  like  these  were  divided  whenever  it  suited 
the  poet's  convenience.  Shakspere  in  all  his  rhymed 
poetry  makes  them,  rhyme  double,  as  : 

To  kill  myself,  quoth  she,  alack  !  what  were  it 
But  with  my  body  my  poor  soul's  pollution  ? 
They  that  lose  half  with  greater  patience  bear  it, 
Than  they  whose  whole  is  s wallow' d  in  confusion. 

"  Rape  of  Lztcrece." 

I  will  drink 

Potions  of  eysel  'gainst  my  strong  infection  ; 
No  bitterness  that  I  will  bitter  think, 
Nor  double  penance  to  correct  correction. 

Sonnet  iii. 

This  division  of  syllables  is  found  in  our  poetry 
as  late  as  Cowley's  time  ;  but  he  was  a  licentious 
versifier : 

At  thy  strong  charms  it  must  be  gone, 
Though  a  disease,  as  well  as  devil,  were  call'd  legion, 

Cow  ley. 

A  different  manner  of  lengthening  the  word  is 
seen  in  this  example  : 

O,  how  this  spring  of  love  resembleth 
The'  uncertain  glory  of  an  April  day  ! 
Shakspere. 
"  Two  Gentlemen  of  Verona,"  act  i.  sc.  3. 

— where  the  word  resembleth  is  pronounced  resem- 
ble-eth,  as  having  four  syllables.  But  such  licence 
would  not  be  now  permitted.  In  our  early  poets 
it  could  not  be  accounted  a  licence,  for  it  was 


POETIC  LICENCES.  113 

according  to  the  ordinary  pronunciation  of  many 
such  words : 

He  came  at  his  commandement  on  hie. 

Chaucer. 
"  Knight's  Tale," 

Right  in  the  middest  of  the  threshold  lay. 

Spenser. 
"  Fairy  Queen." 

It  may  here  be  pointed  out  that  in  our  older 
poetry  final  syllables  were  sounded  which  have 
since  entirely  disappeared  or  become  mute,  such  as 
/,  cs,  ca,  e.g.  : 

The  smale  fowles  maken  melodie — * 

and  also  that  many  words  were  differently  accented 
three  hundred  years  ago;  for  instance,  farewell, 
revenue,  twilight,  canonized,  aspect,  complete. 

*  This  is  further  illustrated  by  presenting  the  opening  lines  of  the 
Prologue  to  the  "  Canterbury  Tales,"  scanned  :— 

'  Whiin  that  |  April  |  le  wiih  |  his  schow  |  res  swoote 
The  drought  |  of  Miirche  |  hath  per  |  ced  to  |  the  route, 
And  ba  |  thed  eve  |  ry~  veyne  |  in  svvich  |  llcour, 
Of  which  |  vertue  |  engen  |  dred  Is  |  the  flour; 
Whan  Ze  |  phirus  |  eek  with  ]  his  swe  |  te  breethe 
Enspi  |  red  hath  |  in  eve  |  ry~holte  |  and  heethe 
The  ten  |  dre  crop  |  pes,  and  |  the  yon  |  ge  sonne 
Hath  In  |  the  Ram  |  his  hal  |  fe  cours  |  i-ronne, 
And  sma  |  le  fow  |  les  ma   j  ken  me  |  lodie, 
That  sle  |  pen  al  |  the  night  |  with  o  pen  eye, 
So  pri  |  keth  hem  |  nature  |  in  here  |  corages: — 
Thanne  Ion  |  gen  folk  |  to  gon  |  on  pil  |  grimages 
And  pal  |  mers  for  |  to  see  |  ken  straun  |  ge  strondes, 
To  fer  |  n6  hal  |  wes,  kouthe  |  in  son  |  dry  londes ; 
And  spe  |  dally,  |  from  eve  |  r/  schi  |  res  ende    / 
Of  Eii  |  gelond,  |  to  Gaunt  |  terbury  |  they  wende, 
The  ho  |  ly'blls  |  fill  mar  |  tir  for  |  to  se5ke, 
That  hem  |  hiith  holp  |  en  whun  |  that  they  |  were  seeke.' 


114  OR  THOME  TR  Y. 

To  what  has  been  said  of  the  contraction  and 
lengthening  of  words  may  be  added,  that  there  are 
some  English  words  which  are  not  allowed  to  pass 
in  verse  for  two  syllables,  though  in  sound  they 
are  such,  and  cannot  be  pronounced  in  one.  Of 
these  the  following  is  an  account. 

"  Our  short  z/,  sounded  as  in  but,  is  pronounced 
easiest  of  all  the  vowels,  and  therefore  is  a  great 
favourite  with  my  countrymen ;  it  is  commonly 
inserted  between  e,  iy  <?,  u  (when  long),  and  r ;  as 
in  there,  fire,  more,  pure,  which  we  pronounce 
thewr, y£«r,  mowr,  &c.  I  think  hire  and  dire  have 
as  fair  a  claim  to  be  counted  dissyllables  as  higher 
and  dyer,  though  we  will  not  allow  them  the  same 
rank  in  verse.*  If  you  repeat 

For  high  renown  the  heaven-born  poets  strive, 
Actors  for  higher  (hire)  in  toils  incessant  live, 

a  person  may  think  you  mean  to  reflect  upon  the 
players  when  you  intend  them  a  compliment.  Or 
in  describing  a  drunken  quarrel,  if  you  end  with 
these  lines  : 

The  blood  that  streamed  from  the  gash  profound, 
With  scarlet  dire  distain'd  their  garments  round, 
Sad  scarlet  dyer  he  who  gave  the  wound. 

Should  you,  in  reading  them,  transpose  the  dire, 
dyery  into  each  other's  places,  you  would  not  per- 

*  Crying  that's  good  that's  gone  :  our  rash  faults. 

Shakspere,  "  All's  Well  that  Ends  Well." 

In  this  line  our  stands  for  two  syllables,  which  indeed  it  may  fairly  claim  ; 
for  the  organs  of  speech,  after  sounding  any  long  vowel  or  diphthong, 
cannot  proceed  to  sound  the  letter  r  without  being  in  a  position  to  sound 
the  short  u  (sometimes,  however,  represented  in  writing  by  e),  as  higher. 


POETIC  LICENCES.  115 

ceive  the  change  ;  such  is  the  force  of  custom  and 
imagination  to  debauch  the  ear,  that  it  does  not 
know  when  one  and  one  syllable  make  two."* 

Here  we  must  introduce  the  consideration  of  the 
liiatus  in  verse,  which  has  occupied  the  attention  of 
writers  on  versification  beyond  its  due  importance. 
By  it  is  meant  the  occurrence  of  a  final  vowel  fol- 
lowed immediately  by  the  initial  vowel  of  another 
word  without  the  suppression  or  elision  of  either 
by  an  apostrophe.  It  is  admitted  on  all  hands  to 
be  a  fault,  and  though  by  some  writers  it  is  declared 
to  be  absolutely  inadmissible  into  our  verse,  as  it  is 
in  Italian,  yet  it  is  to  be  found  in  the  works  of  all 
our  poets.  Perhaps  the  truth  lies  in  regarding  it 
as  unavoidable,  and  the  remedy  in  minimising  its 
occurrence  as  much  as  possible.  Pope  exemplifies 
it  in  the  line  : 

Tho'  oft  the  ear  the  open  vowels  tire. 

"  Essay  on  Criticism" 

The  vowels  which  he  calls  open  are  those  that 
stand  one  at  the  end  of  a  word,  and  the  other  at  the 
beginning  of  the  next,  without  any  consonant 
between  them.  When  vowels  so  meet  they  cause  in 
the  pronunciation  a  gaping,  called  after  the  Latin, 
an  hiatus,  which  offends  the  ear  in  prose  as  well  as 
in  verse. 

Two  of  our  own  poets,  most  celebrated  for  their 
skill  in  versification,  viz.  Pope  and  Dryden,  have 
repeatedly  spoken  of  the  hiatus  as  a  fault ;  but,  as 

*  Tucker's  "  Treatise  on  Vocal  Sounds." 


I  1 6  OR  THOME  TR  Y. 

they  represent  it  to  be  of  greater  magnitude  than  I 
think  it  is  in  reality,  I  will  here  state  their  opinions 
respecting  it,  and  their  practice.  Pope  says,  "  the 
hiatus  should  be  avoided  with  more  care  in  poetry 
than  in  oratory  ;  and  I  would  try  to  prevent  it,  unless 
where  the  cutting  it  off  is  more  prejudicial  to  the 
sound  than  the  hiatus  itself."  Dryden  is  still  more 
averse  to  the  hiatus.  "  There  is  not  (says  he  in  his 
dedication  to  the  ^Eneid\  to  the  best  of  my  remem- 
brance, one  vowel  gaping  on  another  for  want  of  a 
ccesura  (i.e.  a  cutting  off)  in  this  whole  poem ;  but 
where  a  vowel  ends  a  word,  the  next  begins  with  a 
consonant,  or  what  is  its  equivalent ;  for  our  w  and  Ji 
aspirate,  and  our  diphthongs  are  plainly  such ;  the 
greatest  latitude  I  take  is  in  the  letter  yy  when  it  con- 
cludes a  word,  and  the  first  syllable  of  the  next  begins 
with  a  vowel.  Neither  need  I  have  called  this  a  lati- 
tude which  is  only  an  explanation  of  the  general  rule; 
that  no  vowel  can  be  cut  off  before  another,  when  we 
cannot  sink  the  pronunciation  .of  it,  as  he,  she,  me, 
I,  &c."  In  another  place  he  mentions  the  hiatus 
with  extreme  severity.  "  Since  I  have  named  the 
synalepha,  which  is  cutting  off  one  vowel  immediately 
before  another,  I  will  give  an  example  of  it  from 
Chapman's  Homer.  It  is  in  the  first  line  of  the  argu- 
ment to  the  first  Iliad. 

Apollo's  priest  to  th'  Argive  fleet  doth  bring. 

Here  we  see  he  makes  it  not  the  Argive,  but  th' 
Argive;  to  shun  the  shock  of  the  two  vowels  im- 
mediately following  each  other;  but  in  the  same 


POETIC  LICENCES.  I  i  7 

page  he  gives  a  bad  example  of  the  quite  contrary 
kind : 

Alpha  the  prayer  of  Chryses  sings  ; 
The  army's  plague,  the  strife  of  kings. 

In  these  words,  the  army's,  the  ending  with  a 
vowel,  and  army's  beginning  with  another  vowel, 
without  cutting  off  the  first  (by  which  it  had  been, 
th'  army's),  there  remains  a  most  horrible  ill-sound- 
ing gap  betwixt  those  words.  I  cannot  say  that  I 
have  every  way  observed  the  rule  of  the  synalepha 
in  my  translation  :  but  wheresoever  I  have  not,  it 
is  a  fault  in  the  sound."* 

As  Dryden  acknowledges  that,  in  the  verses  to 
which  this  dedication  is  prefixed,  he  has  sometimes 
admitted  an  hiatus,  let  us  pass  to  his  sEneid,  where 
he  professes  to  have  avoided  it  throughout ;  only 
allowing  himself  a  certain  latitude.  But,  indeed, 
what  he  allows  himself  is  nothing  less  than  an  ad- 
mission of  the  hiatus,  as  will  appear  by  various 
instances. 

On  every  altar  sacrifice  renew. 

Book  iv-  line  76. 

He  claims  a  latitude  in  the  letter  jy  ;  but  that  letter 
is,  here  and  everywhere  else,  at  the  end  of  a  word 
as  much  a  vowel  as  any  in  the  alphabet.  He  says, 
"  W  aspirates."  It  does  so  at  the  beginning  of  a 
word,  but  at  the  end  it  is  either  silent  or  makes  a 
diphthong  : 

*  Dedication  to  "  Translations  from  Ovid's  Metamorphoses." 


Il8  ORTHOMETRY. 

Or  hid  within  the  hollow  earth  to  lie. 

Book  xii.  line  1293. 

Now  low  on  earth  the  lofty  chief  is  laid. 

Ibid.  li?ie  1346. 

She  drew  a  length  of  sighs,  nor  more  she  said. 

Ibid,  line  1280. 

He  says  further,  "  That  no  vowel  can  be  cut  off 
before  another,  when  we  cannot  sink  the  pronunci- 
ation of  it,  as  he,  she,  me,  I,  &c."  This  is  very 
true ;  but  it  does  not  follow  that  there  is  no  hiatus 
where  such  a  vowel  is  left.  In  each  of  these  lines 
is  an  hiatus  : 

Whoe'er  you  are,  not  unbeloved  by  Heaven. 

Book  \.  line  537. 

These  walls  he  enter'd,  and  those  words  express'd. 

Book  iv.  line  515. 

False  as  thou  art,  and  more  than  false,  forsworn. 

Ibid,  line  523. 

Weak  as  I  am,  can  I,  alas!  contend  ? 

Book  xii.  line  1262. 

So  is  there  when  the  last  consonants  of  a  word  are 
not  sounded,  as  : 

One  bough  it  bears  ;  but  wond'rous  to  behold. 

Book  vi.  line  210. 

In  all  these,  and  many  similar  cases,  which  occur 
in  every  book  of  his  sEneid,  Dryden  has  left  an 
hiatus,  although  he  endeavours  to  explain  it  away. 


POETIC  LICENCES.  119 

Pope,  in  the  poem  where  he  stigmatizes  the 
hiatus  as  a  fault,  has  repeatedly  committed  the 
same  fault,  and  done  so  in  every  one  of  those 
instances  which  he  exhibits  as  faulty ;  they  are 
these : 

Though  (i)  oft  the  (ii)  ear  the  (iii)  open  vowels  tire. 
And  these  are  his  own  faults : 

(i)  Though  each  may  feel  increases  and  decays. 

"  Ess.  on  Crit"  404. 

(ii)  And  praise  the  easy  vigour  of  a  line. 

16.  361. 

(iii)  As  on  the  land  while  here  the  ocean  gains. 

Ib.  54- 

As  for  their  frequency,  they  recur  sometimes  as 
often  as  twice  in  one  line  : 

Unlucky  as  Fungosa  in  the  play. 

Ib.  328. 

Who,  if  once  wrong,  will  needs  be  always  so. 

Ib.  569. 

But  taking  the  whole  posm,  there  will  be  found, 
upon  an  average,  an  hiatus  in  every  eleven  lines  ; 
and,  except  the  ^Lneid  above  mentioned,  the  hiatus 
occurs  nearly  as  pften  throughout  all  the  poetry  of 
Dryden  and  Pope.  This  observation  is  made,  not 
to  condemn  their  practice,  but  to  show  partly  that 
the  fault  is  not  so  great  as  they  seem  to  represent 


120  OR  THOME  TR  Y. 

it,  and  partly  that  it  is  very  difficult,  if  not  imprac- 
ticable, to  avoid  it.  In  Milton's  poetry,  to  compute 
from  the  fifty  first  and  fifty  last  lines  of  Paradise 
Lost  and  Samson  Agonistes,  there  is  an  hiatus  at 
every  fifth.  In  his  other  poems,  it  may  not  be  so 
frequent  perhaps. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  more  of  the  hiatus  ; 
yet  this  may  be  added,  that,  whatever  offence  it 
may  give  will  be  less  noted  if  it  stands  at  a  pause, 
as : 

Works  without  show,  and  without  pomp  presides. 

Pope, 
"  Essay  on  Crit."  75. 

Nature,  like  liberty,  is  but  restrained. 

Ib.  90. 

Immortal  Vida  !  on  whose  honour'd  brow. 

Ib.  705. 

In  these  instances  the  hiatus  is  better  managed 
than  in  the  three  quoted  above  from  the  same  poem. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  hiatus  will  be  perceived 
most  when  the  two  vowels  which  mark  it  are  such 
that  the  organs  of  speech,  in  pronouncing  them, 
keep  the  same  position. 

There  is  a  different  sort  of  hiatus,  as  it  may  be 
termed,  which  is  made  when  a  word  or  part  of  it 
stands  for  two  syllables  that  might  be  contracted 
into  one  ;  as,  heaven,  tower,  violet,  evening,  &c.  for 
then  there  is  a  gap,  because  the  verse  seems  to 
want  its  full  measure.  The  same  \vant  appears 
still  plainer  when  such  words  as  glorious,  earlier, 


POETIC  LICENCES.  121 

have  the  two  last  syllables  divided.  But  this  ob- 
servation is  not  extended  to  verse  of  the  anapestic 
kind ;  for  our  language,  being  somewhat  overstocked 
with  consonants,  does  not  readily  supply  short 
syllables  in  the  proportion  which  that  verse  requires. 
And  therefore  to  divide  syllables  like  those  just 
mentioned  is,  in  that  species  of  verse,  no  licence 
at  all. 

Many  other  instances  of  diverse  opinions  might 
be  quoted  upon  the  niceties  of  elision  and  syneeresis, 
but  instead  of  doing  so  further,  we  prefer  to  im- 
press upon  the  student  the  importance  of  cultivat- 
ing a  refined  taste  and  critical  ear  as  the  ultimate 
test  of  rhythmic  appreciation.  For  instance,  in  the 
following  verse  of  thirteen  syllables,  the  ear  instinc- 
tively sanctions  their  reduction  to  the  normal  ten, 
thus: 


And  man  |  y  a  fro  |  zen,  man  |  y  a  fi  |  ery  Alp. 

Milton. 


While  in  the  two  examples  that  follow  it  at  once 
declines  to  allow  any  elision  In  the  feet  that  are 
marked  off. 

Canst  thou  imagine  where  those  spirits  live, 
Which  make  such  del  \  icate  mu  \  sic  in  the  woods. 

Shelley. 

And  multitu  |  dmous  as  \  the  desert  sands, 
Borne  on  the  storm  its  millions  shall  advance. 

Ibid. 


122  OR  THOME  TR  Y. 

3.— METRICAL  LICENCES. 

These  embrace  all  deviations  of  whatever  kind 
from  the  normal  metre  of  the  verse  of  which  the 
poem  is  constructed.  Thus  the  normal  line  of 
heroic  verse,  the  iambic  pentameter,  is  this  : 


Any  variation,  therefore,  from  this  standard  is  to  be 
regarded  as  a  metrical  licence ;  and  the  same  is  the 
case  with  all  other  measures. 

We  have  already  been  obliged  to  anticipate  to 
some  extent  the  subject  of  metrical  licences  when 
dealing  with  the  various  kinds  of  metre  in  detail, 
and  to  trespass  still  further  in  the  same  direction 
in  the  chapter  on  mixed  metres  ;  but  we  have  only 
formally  stated  and  inadequately  illustrated  the 
three  fundamental  principles  which  form  the  basis 
of  all  such  licences,  viz  : 

(i)  That  an  additional  unaccented  syllable,  or 
even  two,  may  be  added  to  the  end  of  a  verse. 

(ii)  That  a  syllable  may  be  omitted  or  added  at 
the  beginning. 

(iii)  That  feet,  other  than  those  of  the  normal 
line,  may  be  substituted  in  nearly  any  part  of  the 
verse. 

The  application  of  these  general  principles,  and 
the  restrictions  which  the  best  poets  have  observed 
in  their  use,  now  claim  a  more  detailed  examina- 
tion. 


POETIC  LICENCES.  123 

And  first,  as  regards  the  Iambic  measure,  which 
embraces  the  bulk  of  our  poetry.  The  regular 
heroic  line  is  common  enough,  if  to  have  accented 
syllables  in  the  even  places  be  all  that  is  required 
to  form  it : 

Achilles'  wrath,  to  Greece  the  direful  spring 
Of  woes  unnumber'd,  heavenly  Goddess,  sing; 

but  if  quantity  be  regarded  together  with  accent ; 
if  the  syllables  in  a  regular  verse  ought  to  be  not 
only  accented  and  unaccented,  but  also  long  and 
short,  very  few  such  will  be  found  in  our  poetry. 
This  line  is  of  the  sort : 

On  hungry  waves  that  howl  around  the  fold. 

So  are  the  following  from  a  celebrated  poem  whose 
numbers  are  most  highly  polished : 

When  o'er  the  blasted  heath  the  day  declined. 

But  why  prolong  the  tale  ;  his  only  child 

Rogers. 

The  next  approaches  very  near  the  same  regu- 
larity : 

'Twas  all  he  gave,  'twas  all  he  had  to  give. 

Ibid. 

It  bears  a  strong  resemblance  to  a  line  in  Gray's 
Elegy  which  is  perfect : 

He  gained  from  heaven,  'twas  all  he  wished,  a  friend. 


124  OR  THOME  TR  Y. 

It  may  surprise  those  who  have  been  taught  to 
depreciate  the  versification  of  our  earlier  poets,  to  be 
informed  that  such  perfect  verses  as  are  here  quoted 
are  not  so  rare  among  them  as  among  the  moderns. 
Campion,  in  his  "  Art  of  English  Poetry,"  has  these 
three  lines  together : 

The  more  secure,  the  more  the  stroke  we  feel 
Of  unprevented  harms  ;  so  gloomy  storms 
Appear  the  sterner  if  the  day  be  clear. 

These  he  calls  pure  iambics;  which,  considering 
them  according  to  quantity,  they  are:  the  accents 
too  are  placed  on  the  even  syllables  throughout, 
except  on  z/,  the  sixth  in  the  last  verse.  Such 
lines  as  want  this  perfection,  he  distinguishes  by 
the  name  of  licentiate  iambics ;  i.e.  lines  in  which 
some  other  foot  is  substituted  for  an  iambic;  to 
what  extent  this  is  allowable  we  now  proceed  to 
state. 

But  first,  be  it  remembered  that  in  these  feet 
the  syllables  are  considered  as  accented  or  unac- 
cented, not  as  long  or  short:  and  that  where  quan- 
tity is  to  be  noticed,  it  will  be  expressly  pointed  out. 

The  pyrrhic  foot  (two  unaccented  syllables  -  — ) 
may  supply  the  place  of  an  iambic,  and  is  substi- 
tuted for  it  oftener  than  any  other  foot.  It  may 
stand  in  any  part  of  the  verse,  e.g.  : 

In  the  is t foot. 
Is  he  a  churchman  ?  then  he's  fond  of  power. 

In  the  indfoot. 
A  rebel  to  the  very  king  he  loves. 


POETIC  LICENCES.  125 

/;/  the  $rdfoot. 
Has  made  the  father  of  a  nameless  race. 

In  the  4//£  foot. 
But  quite  mistakes  the  scaffold  for  the  pile. 

In  the  ^thfoot. 

The  dull  flat  falsehood  serves  for  policy. 

Pope. 

This  foot  may  have  place  twice,  or  even  three  times 
in  the  same  line  : 

You  lose  it  in  the  moment  you  detect. 
It  is  a  crocket  of  a  pinnacle. 

Ibid. 

But  as  unaccented  feet  weaken  a  line,  this  last 
has  the  utmost  degree  of  weakness  that  is  consistent 
with  a  verse,  there  being  in  it  only  two  syllables 
accented,  and  for  quantity,  not  one  long. 

The  spondee  (two  accented  syllables  -)  may 
be  substituted  for  the  iambic,  and  in  as  many  places 
as  the  pyrrhic,  e.g.  : 

In  the  istfoot. 
Tom  struts  a  soldier,  open,  bold  and  brave. 

In  the  2nd  foot. 
The  plain  rough  hero  turn  a  crafty  knave. 

In  the  $rdfoot. 
When  flattery  glares  all  hate  it  in  a  queen. 

In  the  ^thfoot. 
That  gay  freethinker,  a  fine  talker  once. 


126  OR  THOME  TR  Y. 

In  the  $th  foot. 

Yet  tames  not  this,  it  sticks  to  our  last  sand. 

Pope. 

This  foot  may  be  repeated,  and  the  following  line 
will  show  to  what  extent : 

More  wise,  more  learn'd,  more  just, — more  everything. 
In  Milton  we  have  such  a  line  as  this  : 
Rocks,  caves,  lakes,  fens,  bogs,  dens,  and  shades  of  death. 

in  which  the  first  six  syllables  are  all  long,  though 
the  even  ones  alone  bear  the  metrical  accent. 
Such  instances  merely  demonstrate  that  the  mea- 
sure of  a  poem  cannot  be  gathered  from  isolated 
verses,  but  is  fixed  by  the  prevalent  foot  throughout, 
and  that  in  poems  extending  to  thousands  of  lines, 
such  exceedingly  licentiafe  verses  form  a  pleasing 
break  to  the  monotony  rather  than  a  blemish. 

The  iambic  verse  admits  likewise  the  trochee, 
but  not  in  such  abundance.  Pope,  who  furnishes 
all  the  examples  here  given  from  a  poem  of  260 
lines,  has  not,  in  that  compass,  any  trochaic  foot 
except  in  the  beginning  of  a  verse.  For  such  ex- 
amples we  must  turn  to  a  poem  of  a  different  struc- 
ture, and  to  a  greater  master  of  poetical  numbers. 
Any  foot  of  the  heroic  verse  may  be  a  trochee, 
except  the  last,  e.g.  : 

In  the  \stfoot. 
Here  in  the  heart  of  hell  to  work  in  fire. 


POETIC  LICENCES.  12J 

In  the  2?idfoot. 
Anon,  out  of  the  earth  a  fabric  huge. 

In  the  ^rd  foot. 
For  one  restraint,  Lords  of  the  world  besides. 

/;/  the  4//£  foot. 

Abject  and  lost  lay  these,  c6vering  the  flood. 

Milton. 

The  same  verse  will  admit  two  trochaic  feet,  as : 
Hov'ring  on  wing  under  the  cope  of  hell. 

Smote  on  him  sore  besides,  vaulted  with  fire  ;  * 

Ibid. 

but  not  a  greater  number  ;  for  the  last  foot  cannot 
be  a  trochee  ;  neither  can  two  trochees  stand  close 
together  in  one  line ;  but  different  feet,  as  the  spon- 
dee and  pyrrhic,  may  so  stand ;  and  all  the  three  may 
be  introduced  into  the  same  line,  instead  of  iambics. 
The  beginning  of  the  third  book  of  the  Paradise 
Lost  will  afford  examples  : 

Hail,  holy  Light !  offspring  of  Heaven  first-born  ! 
May  I  express  thee  unblamed  ?  since  God  is  light, 

*  It  is  to  be  noted  that  in  every  one  of  these  instances  there  is  a 
pause  immediately  preceding  the  trochaic  foot ;  the  introduction  of  it 
without  such  a  pause  is  always  harsh ;  as 

Of  Eve,  whose  eye  |  darted  |  contagious  fire. 

Paradise  Lost, 

In  some  places  so  much  so  as  to  destroy  the  metre ;  and  is  therefore  not 
to  be  approved,  as 

Burnt  after  them  to  the  |  bottom  |  less  pit. 

Ibid. 

Shoots  in  ]  visi  |  ble  virtue  ev'n  to  the  deep. 

Ibid. 


128  OR  THOME  TR  Y. 

And  never  but  in  unapproached  light 
Dwelt  from  eternity  dwelt  then  in  thee, 
Bright  effluence  of  bright  essence  increate. 

Ibid. 

The  licences  here  taken  are  so  many  that  they 
exceed  the  number  of  iambic  feet  in  these  lines. 

Another  kind  of  licence  permitted  to  the  heroic 
verse,  is  to  have  an  additional  syllable  at  the  end, 
as  : 

His  wish  and  best  endeavour,  us  asund  |  er. 

Paradise  Lost. 

or  even  two,  as  : 

For  solitude  sometimes  is  best  soci  |  ety. 

Ibid* 

But  all  such  syllables  must  be  unaccented ;  for  an 
accent  upon  the  last  syllable,  when  two  are  added, 
would  make  an  A  lexandfinc,  which  is  another  species 

*  This  line  is  quoted  because  it  has  been  called  an  Alexandrine; 
Mitford's  "  Essay  on  the  Harmony  of  Language,"  p.  133,  ist  edition,  where 
an  Alexandrine  is  denned  to  be  "  a  verse  of  the  heroic  cadence,  and  con- 
sisting of  six  feet."  By  heroic  cadence  is  meant  such  measures  (or  feet) 
as  an  heroic  verse  is  made  of.  It  is  true  that  an  Alexandrine  must 
contain  six  iambic  feet ;  but  it  is  not  true  that  every  verse  of  six  such 
feet,  the  last  being  unaccented,  must  be  an  Alexandrine.  If  it  must,  ihen 
it  follows  that  a  line  of  five  such  feet  must  be  an  heroic  verse  ;  and  these 
in  Hudibras  : 

She  laid  about  in  fight  more  busily, 

Than  th'  Amazonian  dame  Penthesile, 

P.  i.  c.  2 

are  not  doggerel,  as  is  commonly  supposed,  but  of  a  higher  order,  and  may 
claim  to  be  ranked  with  the  heroics  of  Pope  and  Dryden.'  The  line  in 
Milton  is  exactly  like  the  following  in  Othello  : 

For  sure  he  fills  it  up  with  great  abil  |  ity, 
With  any  strong  or  vehement  importun  |  ity  ; 

Act  iii.  sc.  3. 

and  like  numberless  others  that  occur  in  our  tragedies,  which  were 
never  yet  reckoned  as  Alexandrine,  but  as  heroic  verses  with  two 
redundant  syllables. 


FOE  TIC  L ICEXCES.  I  2  9 

of  verse  ;  and  the  addition  of  an  accented  syllable 
to  the  normal  line  would  destroy  any  known  mea- 
sure. Hypermetrical  syllables  should  not  occur 
often  in  serious  poems,  because  the  unaccented 
terminations  have  the  lightness  of  the  trochee  and 
dactyl,  which  are  unsuitable  to  pieces  of  a  grave 
character.  The  drama,  which  claims  greater  liberty 
than  any  other  form  of  composition,  uses  them  more 
freely. 

The  introduction  of  trisyllabic  feet  in  iambic  mea- 
sure is  one  of  the  favourite  bones  of  contention  with 
writers  on  versification,  and  much  ingenuity  and 
learning  have  been  wasted  on  the  matter.  It  is  an 
undoubted  fact  that  extra  unaccented  syllables  are 
freely  introduced  by  our  standard  poets  into  the 
body  of  iambic  verse,  and  whether  we  attempt  to 
deal  with  them  as  troublesome  interlopers,  or  accept 
them  in  a  friendly  spirit  as  forming  metrical  feet  of 
another  kind,  seems  to  us  a  mere  verbal  question  of 
very  little  importance.  Dr.  Abbott  takes  the  former 
view,  which  he  elaborates  in  his  "  Shaksperean 
Grammar/5  452 — 5 1 5,  and  in  the  "  English  Lessons  for 
English  People,"  97 — 150  ;  Mr.  J.  B.  Mason,  in  his 
"  Chapters  on  English  Verse/'  takes  the  latter,  and 
to  us  the  more  reasonable  one.  His  summing  up  of 
the  question  leaves  little  more  to  be  said.  "Dactyls 
and  Anapests  being  recognised  feet,  it  is  better  to 
use  them  where  they  will  serve  to  explain  the  metre 
of  a  verse,  than  to  have  recourse  to  extra  metrical 
syllables,  a  licence  which,  except  at  the  end  of  a 
line,  is  now  unknown  and  not  recognised  by  all, 
even  in  Shakspere." 


130  OR  THOME  TR  Y. 

The  same  licences  which  are  given  to  the  heroic 
line  are  allowed  to  the  other  species  of  iambic 
measure ;  and,  by  observing  upon  wrhat  ground  they 
stand,  it  will  be  seen  how  many  of  them  may  be 
taken  in  each  species. 

From  the  account  of  the  numerous  licences  which 
are  permitted  by  substituting  some  other  foot  for 
that  which  is  fundamental  to  this  measure,  the 
iambic,  it  will  appear  what  a  variety  the  English 
heroic  verse  is  capable  of  exhibiting :  much 
greater  than  the  Latin  or  Greek  hexameter  can 
produce,  whatever  has  been  advanced  to  the  con- 
trary. This  is  a  point  that  does  not  rest  upon 
opinion,  it  is  a  matter  of  computation  ;  neither  is  the 
variety  such  as  is  allowable  only,  and  not  in  usage  ; 
it  is  to  be  seen  in  all  our  poems  of  that  measure ; 
and  it  will  not  be  foreign  to  our  subject  to  establish 
these  facts  by  evidence  and  proof. 

The  measures  which  enter  into  the  composition 
of  an  hexameter  are  the  dactyl  and  spondee,  and 
no  other ;  and  the  last  foot  of  the  verse  being  in- 
variably a  spondee,  there  remains  a  line  of  five  feet 
to  receive  all  the  varieties  that  can  be  made  by  two 
different  measures.  Now  the  first  foot  admits  of 
two,  and  the  second  of  the  same  number ;  which, 
combined  with  the  first,  is  four ;  the  third  of  twice 
four,  viz.  eight ;  the  fourth  of  twice  eight,  viz.  six- 
teen ;  the  fifth  of  twice  sixteen,  viz.  thirty-two.  And 
this  was  precisely  the  number  of  varieties  which 
the  ancient  grammarians  recognised  in  the  hexa- 
meter. But  the  English  heroic  verse  admits  of  four 
different  feet  $  and  according  to  the  same  rate  of 


POETIC  LICENCES.  131 

combination,  its  varieties  in  the  second  foot  would 
be  four  times  four,  viz.  sixteen,  and  so  on  ;  but 
because,  as  has  been  said,  two  trochees  cannot 
stand  together,  nor  two  pyrrhics,  the  varieties  will 
not  be  so  many  ;  yet  they  will  amount  to  a  much 
greater  number  than  those  of  an  hexameter. 

And  that  this  variety  is  not  imaginary,  but  con- 
tinually employed  by  our  poets,  may  be  shown 
from  any  of  their  works.  The  same  epistle  of  Pope, 
to  which  we  have  already  had  recourse,  will  afford 
the  proof.  The  first  two  feet-  of  each  verse  will  be 
sufficient  for  the  purpose,  e.g.  : 

Two  Iambics. 
And  yet   |  the  fate  |  of  all  extremes  is  such.     Line  9. 

Trochee  and  Iambic. 
Grant  but  |  as  ma  [  ny  sorts  of  mind  as  moss.     Line  18. 

Spondee  and  Iambic. 
Quick  whirls  [  and  shifting  eddies  of  our  minds.     Line  24. 

Pyrrhic  and  Iambic. 
And  in     the  cun  |  ning  truth  itself's  a  lie.     Line  68* 

Pyrrhic  and  Spondee. 
Nor  will  |  life's  stream  [  for  observation  stay.     Line  7. 

Iambic  and  Spondee. 
We  gr6w  |  more  par  |  tial  for  the  observer's  sake.      Line  12. 

Trochee  and  Spondee. 
See  the  |  same  man  |  in  vigour  and  the  gout.     Line  71. 

Iambic  and  Pyrrhic. 
•His  prin  |  ciple  |  of  action  once  explore.     Line  27. 


132  OR  THOME  TRY. 

In  this  example,  taken  from  a  poet  who  is  more 
distinguished  for  the  smoothness  than  the  variety 
of  his  measures,  the  varieties  in  two  feet  amount  to 
eight,  which  is  double  the  number  that  the  hexame- 
ter is  capable  of  making  within  the  same  compass  ; 
the  varieties  of  our  entire  heroic  line  must  therefore 
exceed  those  of  the  hexameter  in  a  still  greater  pro- 
portion. 


Next  with  regard  to  Trochaic  measure.  There 
being  some  affinity  between  the  trochaic  and  iam- 
bic measures,  the  licences  permitted  in  each  will 
foe  similar,  as  far  as  consists  in  the  substitution  of 
some  other  foot  for  that  which  is  characteristic  of 
the  kind.  But  beside  these,  there  is  another  licence 
very  generally  extended  to  the  trochaic ;  viz.  that 
of  cutting  off  part  of  the  concluding  syllable.  This 
is  allowed  in  every  species  of  the  trochaic  verse, 
whether  of  two,  three,  or  four  feet ;  so  that  we  have 
lines  of  three,  five,  and  seven  syllables,  and  many 
specimens  of  them  have  been  given  already. 

The  pure  trochaic  line  is  composed  of  trochees 
without  the  intermixture  of  any  other  foot:  thus  the 
normal  trochaic  tetrameter  line  is  this — 


and  if  quantity  concurs  with  accent  to  form  the 
measure,  it  is  then  perfect ;  as  in  the  following 
example,  where  the  accented  syllables  are  all  long 
and  the  unaccented  all  short : 


POETIC  LICENCES.  133 

Richly  paint  the  vernal  arbour. 

Gray. 

A  perfect  line  is  not  oftener  found  in  this  kind 
than  in  the  heroic  verse. 

Now  as  to  the  licences  which  we  will  exemplify 
from  lines  of  eight  and  seven  syllables  indiscri- 
minately. 

The  first  foot  admits  a  pyrrhic, 

On  a  [  rock,  whose  haughty  brow  ; 

Gray. 

or  a  spondee : 

No,  blest  j  chiefs !  a  hero's  cro\vn  ; 

Sir  W.  Jones. 

or  an  iambus  : 

To  brisk  j  notes  in  cadence  beating. 

Gray. 

The  second  foot  admits  a  pyrrhic  : 

Mute,  but  j  to  the  |  voice  of  anguish  ; 

Gray. 

or  spondee : 

Wakes  thee  j  now,  though  |  he  inherit. 

Gray. 

The  third  foot  admits  the  same. 
Pyrrhic : 

With  Harmodius  ]  shall  re  j  pose  ; 


spondee : 


Rome  shall  perish—  j  write  that  j  word. 

Cotter. 


134  ORTHOMETRY. 

In  the  line  of  eight  syllables,  the  last  foot  is 
necessarily  a  trochee,  and  therefore  the  seventh 
syllable  accented  ;  but  in  the  line  of  seven,  the  last 
syllable  may  be  short ;  as : 

And  with  godlike  Diomed. 

We  do  not  find  an  iambic  in  the  second  or  third 
foot  of  any  authentic  composition.  In  the  first,  it 
has  obtained  a  place  by  the  authority  of  Gray  and 
others ;  it  is  nevertheless  so  harsh  a  violation  of 
the  regular  foot  as  hardly  to  be  approved  of. 


Anafestic  verse  allows  but  few  licences.  One  is 
a  redundant  syllable  at  the  end  of  a  line ;  another, 
an  iambic,  or  spondee,  in  the  first  foot.  And  where 
the  former  of  these  is  introduced,  the  other  ought 
to  be  taken  in  the  line  next  following,  as  in  this 
example : 

To  invite  the  gods  hither  they  would  have  had  rea  |  son, 
And  Jove  |  had  descended  each  night  in  the  season.  • 

Byrom. 

This  rule,  though  but  little  attended  to,  is  good  and 
proper  ;  because  the  observance  of  it  will  keep  the 
measure  entire,  which  otherwise  is  sometimes  over- 
loaded, and  produces  a  bad  effect  on  the  ear. 

Prithee,  pluck  up  a  good  resolution, 
To  be  cheerful  and  thankful  in  all.    . 

Byrom. 


POETIC  LICENCES.  135 

The  second  line  begins  with  an  anapest ;  and  by 
the  word  /<?,  the  measure  is  broken ;  omit  it,  and 
the  whole  will  run  smoothly  and  agreeably. 

Another  licence  claimed  by  some  writers  is  that 
of  dropping  a  syllable  in  the  middle  of  the  verse  ; 
Swift  takes  it  very  often,  as  here  : 

And  now  my  dream's  out ;  for  I  was  a  dream'd 
That  I  saw  a  huge  rat — O  dear  how  I  scream' d  ! 

But  this  licence  is  questionable  at  least ;  it  may 
be  called  unwarrantable,  because  it  occasions  such 
halting  metre. 

Diaeresis  is  a  licence  more  suitable  to  this  kind 
of  verse  than  to  the  dissyllabic  metres,  i.e.  to  make 
a  dissyllable  into  a  trisyllable,  a  monosyllable  into 
a  dissyllable  wherever  possible,  e.g.  : 

Whose  humour,  as  gay  as  the  ^re-fly's  light. 

Moore. 

Would  feel  herself  happier  here, 
By  the  nightingale  war  A/fag  nigh. 

Cowper. 

Drayton  makes  April  three  syllables. 

Such  a  division  of  syllables  helps  the  line  to 
move  lightly,  and  is  a  reasonable  indulgence  to  a 
measure  which,  more  than  others,  is  apt  to  suffer 
by  the  clogging  of  accented  words  and  consonants. 

Any  long  or  accented  syllable,  standing  first  or 
second  in  the  foot,  is  a  deviation  from  this  measure  ; 
but  it  is  less  offensive  to  the  ear  in  the  second 
place  than  in  the  first : 


136  OR  THOME  7R  Y. 

While  a  par  j  eel  of  verses  the  hawkers  were  hollowing. 
Wine  the  sov  |  ereign  cordial  of  God  and  of  man 

Far  above  |  all  the  flowers  |  of  the  field, 
When  its  leaves  |  are  all  dead  |  and  its  col  j  ours  all  lost; 

And  while  j  a  false  nymph  |  was  his  theme, 
A  willow  supported  his  head. 


The  licences  taken  in  Dae fy lie  verse  are  sometimes 
such  that  they  disguise  the  measure  and  render  it 
equivocal,  as  in  this  uncommon  specimen  : 

Oh  !  what  a  pain  is  love  ! 

How  shall  I  bear  it  ? 
She  will  unconstant  prove, 

I  greatly  fear  it. 
Please  her  the  best  I  may, 
She  looks  another  way  ; 
Alack  and  well-a-day, 

Phillida  flouts  me  ! 

Elites  «  Specimens." 

v.  iii.  p.  338. 

Every  line  of  this  stanza  but  the  last  is  divisible 
into  iambic  feet,  and  they  all  make  verses  in  that 
measure ;  they  are  nevertheless  designed  for  the 
dactylic,  as  appears  by  these  next,  which  cannot  be 
so  divided  without  violence: 

Thou  shalt  eat  curds  and  cream 

All  the  year  I  lasting  ; 
And  drink  the  crystal  stream, 

Pleasant  in  |  tasting. 


POETIC  LICENCES.  137 

But  this  great  confusion  of  measure  is  not  often 
made.  The  allowed  licences  are  to  curtail  the  last 
foot,  sometimes  by  one  syllable,  as  in  the  lines 
quoted  above,  but  more  usually  by  two,  which,  as 
compositions  of  this  kind  are  chiefly  for  music, 
makes  a  better  close ;  such  is  : 

Under  the  blossom  that  hangs  on  the    bough. 

It  is  allowed  in  the  beginning  of  a  line  to  sub- 
stitute for  the  proper  foot  a  trochee,  as  : 

Songs  of  |  shepherds  and  rustical  roundelays. 

Old  Ballad. 

Or  a  single  accented  syllable  may  stand  for  it, 
even  for  two  feet  together,  as : 

Come,  |  see     rural  felicity. 

The  question  of  metrical  licences  as  it  affects  the 
Heroic  measure  will  be  further  considered  when  we 
come  to  deal  with  Blank  verse  (see  p.  185). 


POETIC  PAUSES. 

IT  is  perhaps  necessary  to  insist  again  here,  that 
verse  is  rhythmic  articulate  speech,  just  as  music"  in 
its  broadest  definition  is  rhythmic  sound.  A 
printed  sheet  of  notes  on  a  stave  is  no  more 
music  than  is  a  page  of  poetry  verse.  We  have 
to  deal  throughout  with  poems  as  read  or  recited ; 
with  the  body,  not  with  the  soul  of  poetic  crea- 
tion. 

The  rhythm  or  musical  flow  of  verse  depends  not 
only  upon  the  metrical  arrangement  of  accented 
and  unaccented  syllables,  but  in  no  little  degree 
upon  breaks  or  pauses,  which  divide  it  into  phrases 
of  different  lengths.  These  pauses  are  identical 
in  many  instances  with  the  grammatical  stops,  but 
they  are  also  independent  of  them,  and  occur 
where  there  are  no  stops  at  all.  Metrical  pauses 
must,  therefore,  be  clearly  distinguished  from  sen- 
tential stops  at  the  outset  of  this  enquiry.  The 
one  is  as  essential  to  the  melody  as  the  other  is  to 
the  sense.  With  the  latter  we  have  no  further 
concern. 

Metrical  pauses  are  of  two  kinds,  the  one  final 
at  the  end  of  a  verse,  the  other  cxsuraly  which  cuts 
it  into  equal  or  unequal  parts. 


POE  TIC  PA  USES.  I  3  9 

i.— THE   FINAL   PAUSE. 

When  the  verse  is  rhymed  the  final  pause  is 
unmistakable,  and  is  absolutely  necessary  to  bring- 
out  the  jingle  of  the  rhymes ;  but  in  blank  verse, 
and  especially  in  the  dramatic  form,  it  is  not  so 
clearly  marked,  and  is  often  omitted  entirely,  A 
good  reader,  however,  will  hardly  ever  fail  to  mark 
the  end  of  the  lines,  however  slightly,  in  reciting 
two  consecutive  verses,  and  if  one  line  is  run 
into  another  here  and  there,  the  occurrence  is  never 
continuous.  Sheridan,  in  his  "  Art  of  Reading," 
says  that  if  the  first  thirteen  lines  of  the  Paradise 
Lost  were  printed  as  prose  and  read  by  some  one 
who  had  never  seen  the  pcem,  they  would  be  read 
as  prose.  We  are  certain  that  the  judgment  of 
most  educated  men  would  condemn  this  assertion. 
As  well- might  we  take  the  opinion  of  a  Chinaman 
upon  one  of  Beethoven's  sonatas  as  of  an  illiterate 
person  upon  a  question  of  verse  and  prose.  We 
may  safely  conclude  that  verse  which  will  not 
stand  such  a  test  as  this  is  well  deserving  of  being 
considered  prose. 

2.— THE  OESURAL  PAUSE. 

Caesural  pause  is  the  rest  or  halt  of  the  voice  in 
reading  verses  aloud  at  other  points  than  the  end 
of  the  line.  It  is  independent  of  the  same,  and 
may  occur  at  almost  any  part  of  the  line,  and 
even  in  the  middle  of  a  foot.  No  precise  rules 
can  be  laid  down  as  to  its  position,  although  it  is 


140  OR  THOME TR  Y. 

generally  found  in  one  kind  of  verse,  the  heroic, 
for  example,  at  one  part  of  the  line  rather  than  at 
another.  Sometimes  there  are  two  or  even  three 
metrical  pauses  in  a  line,  one  more  marked  than 
the  other,  and,  occasionally,  there  are  verses  with 
no  break  in  the  middle  at  all.  Here  are  a  few 
examples  of  the  diversity  of  their  occurrence  : 

Over  them  triumphant  Death  |  his  dart 
Shook,  |  but  delayed  to  strike. 

The  quality  of  mercy  j  is  not  strained. 

This  I  in  a  moment  j  brings  me  to  an  end. 

I'd  rather  be  a  kitten  j  and  cry  mew. 

Sweet  |  are  the  uses  of  adversity. 

Damn  with  faint  praise,  j  assent  with  civil  leer. 

Pleased  with  the  danger  |  when  the  waves  went  high. 

A  man  to  all  succeeding  ages  curst.     (None.) 

The  pause  is  often  preceded  by  the  strongest 
accent  of  the  line,  and  when  both  these  are  com- 
bined, and  on  the  most  important  word,  the 
emphasis  thus  produced  gives  as  it  were  the  key- 
note to  the  rhythm.  When  the  occurrence  of  these 
is  skilfully  arranged  to  take  place  in  different 
positions  in  succeeding  verses,  the  monotonous 
melody  of  the  measure  is  broken  into  something 
approaching  harmony. 

Pope,  whose  verse  is  remarkable  for  smoothness 


POETIC  PAUSES.  141 

and  polish,  has  been  greatly  censured  for  arrang- 
ing his  pauses  in  the  same,  or  very  nearly  the 
same,  position  for  many  lines  in  succession.  Thus, 
in  the  following  example  from  his  Rape  of  the 
Lock,  it  occurs  at  the  end  of  the  second  foot  in  each 
line  : 

The  busy  sylphs  j  surround  their  darling  care, 
Those  set  the  head  |  and  these  divide  the  hair  ; 
Some  fold  the  sleeve,  |  while  others  plait  the  gown, 
And  Beauty's  praised  |  for  labours  not  her  own. 

The  swing  ot  hundreds  of  lines  such  as  these 
becomes  sleepily  wearisome.  He  seldom  varies 
it  beyond  the  fourth,  fifth,  or  sixth  syllable.  Here 
is  an  instance,  very  rare  with  him,  where  it  occurs 
at  the  end  of  the  third  : 

Offend  her  |  and  she  knows  not  to  forgive, 
Oblige  her  |  and  she'll  hate  you  while  you  live. 

Dryden,  whose  heroic  measures  are  somewhat 
less  polished  but  more  vigorous  than  Pope's,  varies 
the  position  of  his  pauses  more,  and  correspond- 
ingly diversifies  his  rhythm,  e.g.  : 

A  man  so  various  that  he  seemed  to  be     (None.)  ; 

Not  one  |  but  all  mankind's  epitome  > 

Still  in  opinions  |  always  in  the  wrong. 

Was  everything  by  starts  j  and  nothing  long :    . 

But  in  the  course  of  one  revolving  moon,     (None.) 

Was  chemist,  |  fiddler,     statesman,  j  and  buffoon. 

It  is  blank  verse,  however,  as  has  been  already 
said,  whose  rhythm  is  most  diversified  by  the 
varying  position  of  the  pauses,  Milton  uses  them 


142  OR  THOME  TR  Y. 

with  great  skill,  seldom  placing  them  in  the  same 
position  in  any  three  or  four  consecutive  lines. 
They  occur  with  him  very  frequently  after  the 
second  and  third  syllable.  Here  are  two  examples 
from  Paradise  Lost,  and  one  from  the  Sonnets  : 

From  branch  to  branch  the  smaller  birds  |  with  song 
Solaced  the  woods  |  and  spread  their  painted  wings 
Till  even  :  |  nor  then  the  solemn  nightingale 
Ceased  warb  j  ling,  but  all  night  tuned  her  soft  lays  :  | 
Others  |  on  silver  lakes  and  rivers    bathed 
Their  snowy  breasts. 

Now  morn  |  her  rosy  steps  in  Eastern  clime 
Advancing     sowed  the  Earth  with  orient  pearl,  [ 
When  Adam  waked  |  so  customed  J  for  his  sleep 
Was  airy  light  [from  pure  digestion  bred  j 
And  temperate  vapours  bland. 

In  thy  book  record  their  groans  | 
Who  were  thy  sheep,  |  and  in  their  ancient  fold  j 
Slain  by  the  bloody  Piedmontese  |  that  rolled 
Mother  with  infant  down  the  rocks.  |  Their  moans 
The  poles  redoubled  to  the  hills     and  they 
To  heaven. 

With  Shakspere  the  pauses  are  still  more  irre- 
gularly distributed  throughout  the  lines,  the  result 
being  a  still  greater  mobility  to  the  rhythm.  They 
are  to  be  met  with  in  his  work  after  every  syllable 
of  the  -verse,  even  immediately  before  the  fifth 
accent,  which  is  very  rare,  e.g.  : 

And  so  his  peers  upon  this  evidence 

Have  found  him  guilty  of  high  treason.  |  Much 

He  spoke  and  learnedly  for  life. 

"Henry  VIII." 


POETIC  PAUSES.  143 

Alas  !  alas  ! 

Why,  |  all  the  souls  that  were  |  were  forfeit  once  ;  | 
And  He  |  that  might  the  vantage  best  have  took  j 
Found  out  the  remedy,  j  How  would  you  be 
If  He  |  who  is  the  top  of  judgment  |  should 
But  judge  you  as  you  are  ?  |  O  think  of  that,  | 
And  mercy,  then,  |  will  breathe  within  your  lips,  j 
Like  man  new  made. 

' '  Measure  for  Measure. ' ' 

From  his  cradle 

He  was  a  scholar,     and  a  ripe  and  good  one  ;  | 
Exceeding  wise,  |  fair  spoken,  |  and  persuading  ;  | 
Lofty  and  sour  |  to  them  that  loved  him  not,  [ 
But  to  those  men  that  sought  him,  |  sweet  as  summer.  ! 
And  though  he  was  unsatisfied  in  getting,  [ 
Which  was  a  sin,  j  yet  in  bestowing,  j  madam,  J 
He  was  most  princely. 

"  Henry  VIII." 

In  an  Alexandrine  verse  the  pause  should  always 
occur  at  the  end  of  the  sixth  syllable,  or  after  the 
seventh  if  that  syllable  is  strongly  accented.  In 
any  other  position  the  long  majestic  march  of  the 
measure  is  broken. 

Rarely  the  pause  may  take  the  place  of  a 
syllable,  e.g.  : 

Spreads  his  |  light  wings  j  and  |  in  a  mo  |  ment  flies. 

A  few  examples  from  our  modern  poets  are 
added : 

He  heard  it    but  he  heeded  not ;  j  his  eyes 
Were  with  his  heart,  |  and  that  was  far  away  ;  j 
He  recked  not  of  the  life  he  lost,  [  nor  prize,  | 
But  where  his  rude  hut  by  the  Danube  lay  ;  I 


144  OR  THOME  TR  J '. 


There 
There 


were  his  young  barbarians  all  at  play,  j 
was  their  Dacian  mother  |  — he,  their  sire, 


Butchered  |  to  make  a  Roman  holiday.  | 
All  this  rushed  with  his  blood.  |     Shall  he  expire, 
And  unavenged  ? — Arise,  |  ye  Goths,  and  glut  your  ire  ! 

Byron. 
"  Childe  Harold." 


They  never  fail  |  who  die 

In  a  great  cause  :  |  the  block  may  soak  their  gore  ;  | 
Their  heads  |  may  sodden  in  the  sun  ;  |  their  limbs 
Be  strung    to  city  gates  and  castle  walls  \  - 
But  still  their  spirit  walks  abroad.  |     Though  years 
Elapse,  |  and  others  share  as  dark  a  doom,  | 
They  but  augment     the  deep  and  sweeping  thoughts 
Which  overpower  all  others,  |  and  conduct 
The  world  |  at  last  |  to  freedom. 

Byron. 


Small  service  j  is  true  service,  |  while  it  lasts  :  | 
Of  friends,  however  humble,  |  scorn  not  one  ;  | 

The  daisy  j  by  the  shadow  that  it  casts,  j 

Protects  |  the  lingering  dew-drop     from  the  sun. 

Wordsworth. 


Yet  think  not  |  that  I  come  to  urge  thy  crimes  :  J 

I  do  not  come  to  curse  thee,  j  Guinevere,  | 

I,  j  whose  vast  pity  al  |  most  makes  me  die  | 

To  see  thee  laying  there  |  thy  golden  head,  | 

My  pride  in  happier  summers,  |  at  my  feet. 

The  wrath  j  which  forced  my  thoughts  on  that  fierce  law, 

The  doom  of  treason  |  and  of  flaming  death,  | 

(When  first  I  learnt  thee  hidden  here)  |  is  past,  | 

The  pang,  \  which  while  I  weighed  thy  heart  with  one  j 

Too  wholly  true     to  dream  untruth  in  thee,  j 


POETIC  PAUSES.  145 

Made  my  tears  burn  |  — is  also  past,  |  in  part :  | 
And  all  is  past,  |  the  sin  is  sinned,  |  and  I,  J 
Lo  !     I  forgive  thee,  |  as  Eternal  God 
Forgives  :  |  do  thou  for  thine  own  soul  |  the  rest. 

Tennyson. 

"  Guinevere." 

The  third  line  is  best  scanned,  perhaps,  in  this 
way — 

I  j  whose  vast  j  pity  al     most  makes  |  me  die.  | 


RHYME. 

HAVING  considered  the  essentials  of  verse,  and 
the  chief  variations  and  combinations  thereof,  we 
have  now  to  enquire  into  the  accidents  which 
largely  enter  into  its  composition  as  ornaments 
to  its  melody.  The  chief  of  these  is  rhyme,  or 
rime,  as  the  word  was  formerly,  and  more  cor- 
rectly, spelled.  Rhyme  may  be  defined  as  a 
similarity  of  sound  in  the  final  syllable  or  syllables 
of  two  or  more  verses,  or,  as  Milton  speaks  of  it, 
as  the  "jingling  sound  of  like  endings."  In  words 
that  rhyme  there  must  be  difference  as  well  as  simi- 
larity of  sounds.  Words  that  are  identical  in 
sound,  however  different  their  appearance  may  be, 
do  not  form  rhyme  in  English  poetry,  though  we 
occasionally  find  them  there  on  account  of  the 
fewness  of  rhyming  \vords  in  our  tongue.  For 
instance,  such  words  as  I,  eye ;  hie,  high ;  oar, 
ore,  o'er,  are  assonances,  not  rhymes.  On  the  other 
hand,  however  unlike  each  other  words  may  look, 
if  their  sounds  be  similar  without  being  identical, 
they  form  perfectly  good  rhymes,  of  which  the 
following  are  examples — girl,  pearl,  curl;  box, 
locks  ;  cow,  bough,  frau.  In  order  to  arrive  at  a 
clear  conception  of  the  elements  which  make  up 


RHYME.  147 

a  good  rhyme  we  will  take  the  three  words  nose, 
toes,  rose.  In  each  of  these  we  have  the  same 
vowel  sound,  the  open  o,  followed  by  the  same 
sibillant  consonant,  but  preceded  by  the  different 
consonant  sounds  of  ;/,  /,  r.  Now,  as  these 
words  rhyme  correctly  we  can  gather  from  this 
brief  examination  of  their  constituent  parts  what 
is  essential  to  a  perfect  rhyme.  This  is — 

(i)  Identity  in  the  vowel  sound. 

(ii)  Identity  in  the  consonant  sound  that  fol- 
lows it,  if  any. 

(iii)  Difference  in  the  consonant  sounds  that 
precede ;  and  to  these  must  be  added  similarity 
in  accent ;  e.g.  -sing  rhymes  with  ring,  but  not 
well  with  thinking* 

When  confined  to  one  syllable,  rhymes  are 
called  single,  as:  swing,  bring-,  when  embracing 
two,  double,  as :  duty,  beauty ;  when  extended  to 
three,  triple,  as  :  slenderly,  tenderly.  In  double 
rhymes  the  last  syllable  is  unaccented,  ancMn. 
triple  the  last  two. 

Rhymes  may  be  classed  as  perfect,  imperfect,, 
and  false  or  bad,  each  of  which  kinds  requires  de- 
tailed consideration. 


i.— PERFECT   RHYMES. 

Faultless  rhymes  are — 

(i)  Such  as  have  an  exact  agreement  in  sound 
in  the  vowel  and  the  consonants,  if  any,  that  follow, 
e.g.  : 


148  OR  THOME  TR  Y. 

Did  God  set  His  fountain  of  light  in  the  sky, 
That  man  should  look  up  with  the  tear  in  his  eye  ? 
Did  God  make  this  earth  so  beauteous  and  fair, 
That  man  should  look  down  with  a  groan  of  despair  ? 

J.  C.  Prince. 

(ii)  Such  as  have  a  marked  and  sensible  differ- 
enc'e  between  the  consonants  preceding  the  vowel ; 
that  is,  consonants  not  of  the  same  class,  like  these, 
b,  p\  d,  /;  c,  g\  f,  v ;  s,  z ;  which  would  rhyme 
in  bit,  pit ;  den,  ten  ;  come,  gum  ;  fan,  van  ;  seal, 
zeal.  Such  rhymes  differ,  indeed,  in  the  sound  pre- 
ceding the  vowel,  and  therefore,  strictly  taken, 
are  regular;  but  the  difference  is  so  slight  that 
they  are  not  to  be  commended. 

The  want  of  sufficient  difference  is  likewise  per- 
ceptible in  such  rhymes  as  bled,  bed ;  pray,  pay, 
where  the  second  consonant  is  dropped,  and  both 
words  begin  with  the  same  letter;  but  the 
rhymes  bled,  led;  pray,  ray,  are  perfectly  good, 
because  the  consonants  with  which  they  begin  are 
different.* 

(iii)  Such  as  are  made  by  syllables  that  are 
long  and  full-sounding,  in  preference  to  their 
opposites ;  among  which  last  are  the  terminations 
of  polysyllabic  words. 

Compounds  do  not  rhyme  well  with  their  simples, 
as,  resound  with  soiind.  The  greater  variety  also 

*  Dr.  Johnson,  in  one  of  his  poems,  has  used  a  very  uncommon  rhyme  : 
Such  bribes  the  rapid  Greek  o'er  Asia  whirl'd, 
For  such  the  steady  Roman  shook  the  world. 

"  Vanity  of  Human  Wishes." 

One  of  these  words  is  aspirated  and  the  other  not;  so  that  here  is  a  dif- 
ference ;  but  they  make  the  nearest  approach  to  identity  that  can  be 
allowed,  or,  indeed,  that  can  be  uttered. 


RHYME.  149 

in    the  length    of  the  rhyming   words  the  better, 
as  hound  with  rebound. 

The  observations  of  Mitford  on  this  topic  of  good 
rhymes  are  worthy  of  attention.  He  says  :  "  Ac- 
cording to  our  preceding  definitions,  euphony  and 
cacophony,  in  language,  mean  sound,  pleasing  and 
unpleasing.  English  speech  has  rarely  any  mate- 
rial cacophony  in  the  middle  of  words,  but  in 
terminations  it  too  certainly  abounds.  A  well- 
eared  poet  will  avoid  cacophony  in  rhymes,  and  in 
the  conspicuous  parts,  especially  the  last  syllable, 
of  any  verse.  Pope  has  had  generally  credit  for 
what  are  called  rich  poems ;  though  his  higher 
respect,  justly  directed  to  that  powerful  closeness 
of  phrase,  in  which  he  singularly  excels,  has 
led  him  to  admit  some  rhymes  rather  cacophonous. 
The  word  king  is  certainly  not  euphonous,  nor  of 
dignified  sound ;  the  vowel  is  short  and  close,  and 
the  following  consonant,  one  consonant  expressed 
by  two  characters,  the  most  cacophonous  in  our 
pronunciation.  Whether  it  was  for  the  dignity 
of  the  idea  conveyed,  or  for  the  opposite  quality  of 
the  sound,  that  Pope  chose  it  for  the  first  rhyme 
of  his  Essay  on  Man,  with  cacophony  doubled  by 
an  added  s,  appears  doubtful.  He  has,  indeed, 
not  scrupled  to  use  the  same  ing  for  the  first 
rhyme  of  his  translation  of  the  Iliad ;  but  the  ex- 
ample is  not  to  be  recommended.  Terminations 
in  a  long  vowel,  or  a  liquid  consonant,  preceded 
by  a  long  vowel,  will  be  most  euphonous.  The 
termination  in  a  liquid  consonant  preceded  by  a 
short  vowel,  though  less  rich,  will  make  a  plea- 


150  OR  THOME  TR  Y. 

sant  variety.  That  of  a  mute  preceded  by  along 
vowel  will  be  wholly  unobjectionable,  rich  without 
any  cacophony,  if  a  vowel  begin  the  following 
word,  as  in  the  first  verse  of  Paradise  Lost.  These, 
however,  would,  in  our  language,  be  limits  too 
narrow"  for  the  poet;  and  the  ear  practised  in  our 
versification  wrill  take  no  offence  at  the  conclusion 
of  the  second  line  of  Paradise  Lost,  where  a  long 
vowel  is  followed  by  two  consonants  within  the 
same  syllable,  and  two  consonants  begin  the  next 
verse.  The  judicious  poet,  however,  will  be  spar- 
ing of  such  accumulation  of  consonants." 

We  are  not  to  expect  that  such  good  and 
approved  rhymes  as  are  here  advocated  should 
constitute  the  major  part  in  any  composition. 
The  difficulty  of  rhyming  well,  and  the  propriety 
of  sacrificing  what  is  merely  ornamental  to  what  is 
more  important,  must  always  plead  for  as  much 
indulgence  as  can  be  granted. 


2.— IMPERFECT  RHYMES. 

We  now  proceed  to  pass  in  review  imperfect 
rhymes,  viz.,  such  as  are  admissible  into  verse, 
but  are  not  of  the  best  quality.  These  form  a  most 
extensive  class  ;  they  are  found  in  the  works  of  all 
our  poets,  and  into  some  of  them  they  enter 
very  largely.  They  are  admissible,  but  they  gener- 
ally labour  under  some  defect;  either  they  want 
the  proper  correspondence  of  sound,  or  they  are 
made  of  little  insignificant  words,  or  they  are  stale 


*-  RHYME.  1 5 1 

and  hackneyed.      Examples  will  be  given   of  all 
these. 

According  to  what  has  been  already  said  of 
rhyme,  it  is  evident  that  a  word  may  fail  of  making 
an  exact  one,  in  three  parts  : 

(i)  In  the  letters  which  go  before  the  vowel. 

(ii)  In  the  vowel  itself. 

(iii)  In  the  letters  (if  any)  that  follow  it. 

By  failing  in  the  first  part,  viz.  by  making  no 
difference  before  the  vowel,  the  rhyme  will  be  in- 
admissible, because  it  will  form  an  assonance. 
A  failure  in  either  of  the  other  parts  may  yet  give 
a  rhyme  which  is  passable,  though  defective.  And 
as  it  is  this  particular  defect,  more  than  any  other 
imperfection,  that  mars  our  poetry,  as  far  as  rhyme 
goes,  it  will  not  be  unfit  to  enlarge  thereon.  By  a 
broad  computation  of  the  possible  rhyming  com- 
bination of  our  vowels,  diphthongs,  and  conso- 
nants, it  has  been  ascertained  that  there  are  upwards 
of  six  hundred  of  them  at  the  rhymester's  disposal. 
Yet,  notwithstanding  this  ample  field  for  choice 
and  variety,  there  will  not  be  found  one,  among  all 
our  poets,  who  within  the  compass  of  thirty  rhymes, 
does  not  usually  make  some  repetition  upon  an 
average  taken  of  the  whole  of  his  works  in  rhyme. 
In  support  of  this  assertion,  which  perhaps  may 
surprise  some  readers,  we  will  exhibit  a  specific 
account  of  such  repetitions,  and  also  of  imperfect 
rhymes,  taken  from  a  considerable  number  of 
poets,  from  Dryden  to  Goldsmith.  These  have 
been  pitched  upon  for  two  reasons ;  one,  to  obviate 
what  otherwise  might  be  objected,  that  such 


152  OR  THOME  TR  Y. 

faults  do  not  occur  in  our  best  versifiers  ;  the  other, 
to  prevent  young  writers  from  being  misled  by 
examples  of  such  high  and  deserved  authority. 

The  table  subjoined  shows  the  number  of  re- 
peated rhymes,  and  of  those  which  are  imperfect, 
in  the  works  of  the  authors  whose  names  are  in 
the  margin,  taken  from  the  first  sixty  rhymes  of 
the  pieces  there  specified. 

Authors.  Translations.  Rhymes        Rhymes 

repeated,    imperfect. 

Dryden     .     Translation  of  Homer's  Iliad,  B.  i     18       .       9 
Pope         .  ,,  ,,  .     24       .       6 

Dryden     .  ,,  Virgil's  ^Eneid,  B.  i     19       .     10 

Originals. 

Pope          .  Moral  Essays,  Epist.    .         .         .     19       .       9 

Swift          .  Baucis  and  Philemon   .         .         .10.2 

Prior         .  Solomon i8.n 

Goldsmith  Traveller 26       .       2 

Cowper     .  Retirement  .         .         .    -     .         .     15       .       2 

This  selection  has  been  made  from  pieces  written 
in  couplets,  because,  in  such  pieces,  the  rhymes 
being  unconnected  with  other  rhymes  or  lines,  the 
versifier  is  less  restricted  in  his  choice  than  he 
would  be  if  composing  in  any  kind-  of  stanza. 
The  repetitions  are,  nevertheless,  very  frequent. 
In  stating  the  imperfections,  the  smallest  have  been 
taken  into  account.  They  are,  generally,  a  differ- 
ence in  the  vowel-sound ;  which,  in  most  cases,  is 
less  offensive  to  the  ear  than  a  difference  in  the 
consonants.  The  imperfect  rhymes  in  the  extract 
from  Pope's  original  piece  are  these : — gross, 
moss ;  view,  do  ;  desert,  heart ;  charron,  buffoon  ; 


RHYME.  153 

revere,  star ;  impell'd,  field  ;  breast,   east ;  retreat, 
great ;  and  one  identical,  known,  none. 

Some  of  these  imperfections  are  very  slight, 
and  none  of  them  less  tolerable  than  this  in  the 
consonants : 

For  Britain's  Empire,  boundless  as  the  main, 
Will  guard  at  once  domestic  ease, 
And  awe  th'  aspiring"  nations  into  peace. 

When  there  is  a  double  imperfection,  and  the 
vowel-sound  and  consonant  are  both  different,  as 
in  this  couplet,  the  rhyme  is  bad : 

Nor  did  your  crutch  give  battle  to  your  duns, 
And  hold  it  out  where  you  had  built  a  sconce. 

Butler. 

From  a  review  of  the  extract  given  above,  it 
will  appear  that  in  the  points  under  consideration, 
our  later  versifiers,  to  speak  of  them  generally, 
have  improved  upon  their  predecessors,  with  an 
exception  to  Swift  alone,  who  as  a  correct  rhymer 
has  never  been  excelled  by  any. 

The  introduction  of  little  insignificant  words  to 
make  rhyme  is  a  blemish  which  is  not  often 
chargeable  on  our  modern  poets.  It  was  very 
common  before  the  beginning  of  the  last  century; 
nor  do  such  rhymes  appear  to  have  been  con- 
sidered then  as  any  imperfection.  The  instances 
are  numerous : 

-    Who  with  his  word  commanded  all  to  be, 
And  all  obeyed  him,  for  that  word  was  he  ; 
Only  he  spoke,  and  everything  that  is 
From  out  the  womb  of  fertile  Nothing  ris'. 

Cowley. 


154  OR  THOME 'TR  Y. 

A  frequent  rhyme  in  Waller  is  the  word  so, 
which  has  been  noted  and  censured  by  Johnson  : 

Thy  skilful  hand  contributes  to  our  woe, 
And  whets  those  arrows  which  confound  us  so  : 
A  thousand  Cupids  in  those  curls  do  sit, 
Those  curious  nets  thy  slender  fingers  knit. 

"  Verses  to  Saccharissds  Maid  " 

Who,  naming  me,  doth  warm  his  courage  so, 
Shows  for  my  sake  what  his  bold  hand  would  do. 

"  Verses  for  Drinking  Healths  " 

We  find  in  Dryden  rhymes  of  the  same  class. 

The  Panther  smiled  at  this,  "  and  when,"  said  she, 
"  Were  those  first  councils  disallow'd  by  me  ? 
'Tis  dangerous  climbing;  to  your  sons  and  you 
I  leave  the  ladder,  and  its  omen  too. — 
Why  all  these  wars  to  win  the  book,  if  we 
Must  not  interpret  for  curselves,  but  she  ? 
"  Hind  and  Panther." 

They  occur  more  frequently  in  his  prologues  and 
epilogues  ;  but  examples  enough  have  been  given  ; 
for  they  are  not  introduced  for  the  purpose  of  cen- 
sure, but  only  to  show  what,  in  the  present  day, 
ought  to  be  avoided. 

Another  defect  in  this  part  of  versification  is  the 
employment  of  such  rhymes  as  are  become  hack- 
neyed by  overmuch  use.  What  these  rhymes  are, 
is  described  and  exemplified  by  Pope ;  he  calls 
them  "the  sure  returns  of  still-expected  rhymes  ;  " 
as  in  this  couplet : 


RHYME.  155 

Where'er  you  find  the  cooling  western  breeze, 
In  the  next  line  it  whispers  through  the  trees. 

"  Essay  o?i  Criticism? 

His  own  verses,  however,  sometimes  Fall  under 
this  censure,  as  is  shown  in  the  following : 

Her  fate  is  whisper' d  by  the  gentle  breeze, 
And  told  in  sighs  to  all  the  trembling  trees. 

In  some  still  evening,  when  the  whispering  breeze 
Pants  on  the  leaves,  and  dies  upon  the  trees. 

"Fourth  Pastoral." 

The  dying  gales  that  pant  upon  the  trees, 
The  lakes  that  quiver  to  the  curling  breeze. 

' '  E lots  a  to  A  be  I  a  rd. ' ' 

There  are  some  rhymes,  and  also  some  ends  of 
verses,  so  hackneyed  that  we  might,  at  the  first 
recital  of  them,  do  in  the  same  manner  as  Deme- 
trius Phalerus  informs  us  the  Athenians  did  some- 
times towards  those  orators  wrho  composed  their 
speeches  in.  studied  and  artificial  periods.  "  The 
hearers  were  disgusted,"  says  he,  "and  being  well 
aware  how  the  sentence  would  end,  they  would 
often  forestall  the  speaker,  and  utter  it  aloud." 

Many  subjects  for  verse  have  these  common 
rhymes  accompanying,  and,  as  it  were,  belonging 
to  them.  For  example,  in  prologues  and  epilo- 
gues it  is  perhaps  necessary  to  mention  the  stage  ; 
this,  being  a  very  easy  word  to  rhyme  with,  is 
readily  taken  ;  and  then  its  partner  shall  be  age  or 
rage,  and  stand  with  it  after  this  manner : 


156  ORTHOMETRY. 

The  plays  that  take  on  our  corrupted  stage, 
Methinks,  resemble  the  distracted  age. 

While  you  turn  players  on  the  world's  great  stage, 
And  act  yourselves  the  force  of  your  own  a^c. 

Dry  den. 

In  his  prologues  and  epilogues,  which  are  about 
forty,  these  two  words  rhyme  above  a  dozen  times. 
In  the  same  pieces  the  term  play  occurs  as  natur- 
ally as  stage,  and  is  made  as  serviceable ;  for  its 
termination  in  ay  affords  as  many  rhymes  as  any 
in  the  language. 

Pope's  Prologue  to  Cato  is  another  instance  in 
point.  It  consists  of  twenty-three  couplets,  in  which 
we  find  these  rhymes :  stage,  age  ;  stage,  rage  ; 
fate,  state  ;  great,  state  ;  draws,  was  ;  cause,  laws  ; 
laws,  cause. 

Here  are  a  few  specimens  of  commonly  recurring 
imperfect  rhymes : 


war 

wound 

arms 

ease 

river 

shore 

ground 

warms 

increase 

ever 

returned 
mourned 

prove 
love 

thought 
wrote 

come 
tomb 

face 

hear 
pair 

face 

rays 

flood 
brood 

increase 
breathe 

peace 
piece 

3.— BAD  RHVMKS. 

Of  rhymes  that  are  classed  as  bad  very  little 
need  be  said  beyond  quoting  a  few  typical  exam- 
ples, and  pleading  the  difficulty  of  rhyming  in  1 


RH  I  'ME. 

lish,   as     compared   with    some   other    tongues,  as 
ground  for  indulgence. 

Of  such  are  those  that  are  widely  different  in  the 
vowel  sound,  as  : 

Beauty  and  youth,  and  wealth  and  luxury. 
And  sprightly  hope,  and  short-enduring  jov. 

Dryden* 

Or  which  are  different,  both  in  the  vowel-sound  and 
in  the  consonants  which  follow  it,  as  : 

All  trades  of  death  that  deal  in  steel  for  gains 
Were  there  ;  the  butcher,  armourer,  and  sm/'M, 
Who  forces  sharpen'd  falchions  or  the  scyMe. 

Dryde** 

Or  those  in  which  the  consonants  preceding  the 

vowel  are  of  the  same  sound,  a- 

Rut  this  bold  lord,  with  manly  strength  endued, 
She  with  one  finger  and  a  thumb  subdued. 


The  last  is  an  instance  of  pure  assonance,  which 
is  not  admissible  into  modern  poetry,  though  it 
was  common  enough  with  our  earlier  writers,  and 
is  still  allowable  in  French  verse. 

Another  gross  violation  of  the  requirements  of 
rhyme  is  where  the  preceding  consonants  have  the 
same  sound,  and  the  vowel  and  what  follows  it 
different  ones,  as  in  attempting  to  make  a  rhyme 
of  JT<V:.V\  and  Si 


158  ORTHOMETRY. 

4.— DOUBLE  AND  TRIPLE  RHYMES. 

Under  the  name  of  Double  and  Triple  rhymes  are 
comprehended  all  those  which  are  made  by  more 
than  one  syllable,  of  how  many  syllables  soever 
they  may  consist.  And  they  may  consist  of  as 
many  syllables  as  follow  the  last  accented  syllable 
of  a  word,  together  with  that  syllable,  as  glory y 
story  :  beautiful,  dutiful ;  censurable,  commensurable. 
As  in  single  rhymes  it  is  required  that  all  which 
follows  the  vowel  shall  be  identical  in  sound ;  so  in 
double  rhymes  all  which  follow  the  last  accented 
vowel,  both  consonants  and  syllables,  should  in 
sound  be  identical,  as  in  the  examples  above. 

Double  rhymes  are  but  sparingly  used  in  our 
serious  poetry ;  the  reason  may  be  that  they  are 
considered  as  having  too  sprightly  a  character  to 
accord  with  it,  the  rhyme  of  two  syllables  forming 
a  trochee,  and  that  of  three,  a  dactyl;  but  in  ear- 
lier times  this  unfitness  was  either  not  perceived 
or  not  regarded.  The  double  rhymes  in  Shaks- 
pere's  Rape  of  Lticrece  sometimes  occupy  an  entire 
stanza,  as  this  : 

Besides,  the -life  and  feeling  of  her  passion 

She  hoards,  to  spend  when  he  is  by  to  hear  her  : 

When  sighs,  and  groans,  and  tears  may  grace  the  fashion 

Of  her  disgrace,  the  better  so  to  clear  her 

From  that  suspicion  which  the  world  might  bear  her. 

To  shun  this  blot,  she  would  not  blot  the  letter 

With  words,  till  action  "might  become  them  better. 

The   rules   or    custom    of  a  more    correct    age 


RHYME.  159 

abridged,  in  serious  poems,  this  large  use  of  double 
rhymes  ;  and  what  was  still  allowed,  was  under 
certain  limitations  :  as,  first,  that  the  rhyme  should 
not  consist  of  more  than  two  syllables  ;  and  second 
that  it  should  not,  like  some  in  the  stanza  above, 
be  made  of  two  words.  Under  these  restraints  the 
double  rhyme  often  appears,  and  not  without  grace, 
in  our  lyric  poetry,  as  here  : 

O  lyre  divine  !  what  daring"  spirit 
Wakes  thee  now  ?  though  he  inherit 
Nor  the  pride,  nor  ample  pinion, 
That  the  Theban  eagle  bear, 
Sailing  with  supreme  dominion 
Through  the  azure  deep  of  air. 

Gray. 

A  fine  example  of  double  rhyming  is  to  be  seen 
in  Shelley's  Cloud.  But  the  most  suitable  place  for 
the  exhibition  of  double  rhymes  is  where  ludicrous 
subjects  are  treated  of  in  a  burlesque  style,  as  in 
Butler's  Hudibras,  Hood's  Whims  and  Oddities,  or 
Gilbert's  Bab  Ballads,  in  which  numerous  examples 
of  double  and  triple  rhymes  may  be  found,  as  in 
the  following  stanzas  taken  at  random  from  the 
latter  : 

For  Burglars,  Thieves,  and  Co., 

Indeed  I'm  no  apologist, 
But  I,  some  years  ago, 

Assisted  a  fa 


Wild  croquet  Hooper  banned, 
And  all  the  sports  of  Mammon 

He  warred  with  cribbage,  and 
He  exorcised 


I  6  O  OR  THOME  TR  Y. 

In  verses  of  this  class,  the  rhyming  syllables 
may  be  as  many  as  follow  the  last  accented 
syllable  of  a  verse,  including  that  syllable.  We 
mean  here  that  verse  which  ends  with  polysyl- 
lables. Our  language  has  not  many  polysyl- 
lables where  the  accent  is  thrown  farther  back 
than  the  antepenultimate  ;  and  therefore  we  have 
but  few  rhymes  of  four  syllables,  and  these 
are  only  met  with  in  whimsical  and  far-fetched 
expressions. 

When  more  words  than  one  are  taken  to  make 
up  the  rhyme,  it  gives  opportunity,  by  the  combi- 
nation, to  frame  new  rhymes,  the  novelty  of  which 
is  pleasing,  as  in  the  following  by  Butler : 

The  oyster-women  lock'd  their  fish  up, 
And  trudg'd  away,  to  cry  No  Bishop. 

Hudibras. 

And  again — 

You  have  said  my  eyes  are  blue  ; 
There  may  be  a  fairer  hue, 

Perhaps — and  yet 
It  is  surely  not  a  sin 
If  I  keep  my  secrets  in — 

Violet. 

Mortimer  Collins. 

To  produce  this  novelty  is  a  species  of  wit, 
though  of  an  inferior  order,  yet  such  as  cannot  be 
exercised  without  great  facility  in  composition  and 
command  of  language.  There  are  poems  of  a  very 
modern  date  which  will  prove  this  assertion,  whence 
we  conclude  that  our  contemporaries,  some  of  them 


RHYME.  \  6  I 

at  least,  are  superior  in  these  points  to  the  gener- 
ality of  former  writers.  The  following  verses  of 
Swift,  upon  the  ancient  dramatic  authors,  exhibit 
this  faculty  in  a  remarkable  degree.  He  had  supe- 
rior abilities  in  rhyming,  and  he  appears  to  have 
set  himself  down  to  this  piece  merely  for  the  pur- 
pose of  exerting  them  : 

I  went  in  vain  to  look  for  Eupolis, 

Down  in  the  Strand,  just  where  the  new  pole  is  ; 

For  I  can  tell  you  one  thing,  that  I  can, 

You  will  not  find  it  in  the  Vatican. 

He  and  Cratinus  used,  as  Horace  says, 

To  take  his  greatest  grandees  for  asses. 

Poets,  in  those  days,  used  to  venture  high ; 

But  these  are  lost  full  many  a  century. 

Thus  you  may  see,  dear  friend,  ex £cde  hence, 

My  judgment  of  the  old  comedians. 

Proceed  to  tragics  :  first,  Euripides 
(An  author  where  I  sometimes  dip  a'  days) 
Is  rightly  censured  by  the  Stagirite, 
Who  says  his  numbers  do  not  fadge  aright. 
A  friend  of  mine  that  author  despises 
So  much,  he  swears  the  very  best  piece  is, 
•  For  aught  he  knows,  as  bad  as  Thespis's ; 
And  that  a  woman,  in  these  tragedies, 
Commonly  speaking,  but  a  sad  jade  is. 
At  least,  I'm  well  assured,  that  no  folk  lays 
The  weight  on  him  they  do  on  Sophocles. 
But,  above  all,  I  prefer  Eschylus, 
Whose  moving  touches,  when  they  please,  kill  us 

And  now  I  find  my  muse  but  ill  able 
To  hold  out  longer  in  trisyllable. 

.  .   '  "  To  Dr.  Sheridan:' 

Here  follow  a  few  instances  of  whimsical  combi- 

M 


1 62  ORTHOMETRY. 

nations  in  the  way  of  rhyming,  mostly  by  modern 
writers  : 

Just  so  romances  are,  for  what  else 
Is  in  them  all  but  love  and  battles. 

Butler. 

And  pulpit,  drum  ecclesiastic, 
Beat  with  fist  instead  of  a  stick. 

Butler. 

Sun,  moon,  and  thou,  vain  world,  adieu, 
That  kings  and  priests  are  plotting  in  ; 
Here,  doomed  to  starve  on  water  gru — 
el,  never  shall  I  see  the  U— 
Diversity  of  Gottingen — 
Diversity  of  Gottingen. 

Gifford. 

But,  oh  !  ye  lords  of  ladies  intellectual  ! 
Inform  us  truly,  have  they  not  henpecked  you  all  ? 

Byron. 

May  no  rude  hand  deface  it, 
And  its  forlorn  hie  jacet. 

Wordsworth. 

I  hate  all  critics  ;  may  they  burn  all, 
From  Bentley  to  the  Grub-street  Journal. 

Fielding. 

Some  say,  compared  to  Bonnocini, 
That  Mynheer  Handel's  but  a  ninny  ; 
Others  aver,  that  he  to  Handel 
Is  scarcely  fit  to  hold  a  candle. 
Strange  all  this  difference  should  be 
'Twixt  Tweedledum  and  Tvveedledee. 

Byrorn. 


RHYMED  163 

An  hour  they  sat  in  Council ; 

At  length  the  Mayor  broke  silence  : 
For  a  guilder  I'd  my  ermine  gown  sell, — 

I  wish  I  were  a  mile  hence. 

Browning. 

Having  reached  the  summit,  and  managed  to  cross  it,  he 
Rolled  down  the  hill  with  uncommon  velocity. 

Bar ham. 

Grown  blind,  alas  !  he'd 
Some  prussic  acid, 
And  that  put  him  out  of  his  pain. 

Bar  ham. 


Careless  rhymer,  it  is  true 
That  my  favourite  colour's  blue; 

But  am  I 

To  be  made  a  victim,  sir, 
If  to  puddings  I  prefer 

Cambridge  TT. 

Mortimer  Collins. 

Here  are  some  stanzas  from   an  amusing  satire- 
which  rhymes  throughout  on  the  long  e  : 

Says  'My  Lord'  to  our  Captain,  "  Now,  Captain,"  says  he, 
"  On  my  life,  I  was  never  before  at  sea, 
But,  hang  it !  that's  not  at  all  necessaree 
For  the  very  First  Lord  of  the  Admiraltee." 

We  sailed  to  the  eastward  but  miles  two  or  three, 
When  somehow  '  My  Lord '  took  as  ill  as  could  be  : 
"  If  you  take  me  much  further,  now  steward,"  cries  he, 
"  I  shall  throw  up  my  post  at  the  Admiraltee." 


164  OR  THOME  TR  Y. 

"  Bout  ship  !  ''  shouts  the  Captain,  immediatelee, 
"  And  bear  the  '  First  Lord  '  to  his  own  countree  ; 
If  our  vessel  went  down,  no  matter  to  we, 
But  what  would  become  of  the  Admiraltee  !  " 


We  shall  conclude  this  subject  of  double  rhymes 
with  laying  before  the  reader  what  Dryden  has  said 
upon  it.  "The  double  rhyme  (a  necessary  com- 
panion of  burlesque  writing)  is  not  so  proper  for 
manly  satire  ;  for  it  turns  earnest  too  much  to  jest, 
and  gives  us  a  boyish  kind  of  pleasure..  It  tickles 
awkwardly,  with  a  kind  of  pain  to  the  best  sort  of 
readers  ;  we  are  pleased  ungratefully,  and,  if  I  may 
say  so,  against  our  liking.  He  (Butler,  of  whom 
he  is  writing)  might  have  left  that  task  to  others, 
who,  not  being  able  to  put  it  in  thought,  can  only 
make  us  grin  with  the  excrescence  of  a  word  of  two 
or  three  syllables  in  the  close.  It  is,  indeed,  below 
so  great  a  master  to  make  use  of  such  a  little  in- 
strument. But  his  good  sense  is  perpetually  shining 
through  all  he  writes  ;  it  affords  us  not  the  time 
for  finding  faults.  We  pass  through  the  levity  of 
his  rhyme,  and  are  immediately  carried  to  some 
admirable,  useful  thought/' 


5.— FAULTS   IN    RHYMING. 

The  faults  in  rhyming,  which  have  hitherto  been 
noticed,  arise  from  some  imperfection  in  the  rhymes 
themselves ;  but  there  are  other  usages  deserving 
censure,  which  are  independent  of  any  such  imper- 


RHYME.  165 

fections.  Of  these,  some  may  be  attributed  to  the 
inadvertence  or  negligence  of  the  writer.  Of  this 
sort  is  the  recurrence  of  the  same  rhymes  at  short 
distances.  By  the  same  rhymes  is  meant,  all  those 
which  rhyme  together,  though  consisting  of  different 
words,  as  bay,  day  ;  lay,  may ;  pay,  say. 

Our  age  was  cultivated  thus  at  length, 
But  what  we  gain'd  in  skill  we  lost  in  strength  : 
Our  builders  were  with  want  of  genius  curst ; 
The  second  temple  was  not  like  the  first ; 
Till  you,  the  best  Vitruvius,  come  at  length, 
Our  beauties  equal,  but  excel  our  strength. 

Dry  den. 

Here  the  same  rhymes  occur,  and  are  even  made 
by  the  same  words,  separated  by  one  couplet  only. 

A  fault  similar  to  this  is  the  frequent  repetition 
of  the  same  rhymes,  as  in  this  example  : 

Shall  funeral  eloquence  her  colours  spread, 
And  scatter  roses  on  the  wealthy  dead  ? 
Shall  authors  smile  on  such  illustrious  days, 
And  satirise  with  nothing — but  their  praise  ? 

Why  slumbers  Pope,  who  leads  the  tuneful  train, 
Nor  hears  that  virtue,  which  he  loves,  complain  ? 
Donne,  Dorset,  Dryden,  Rochester,  are  dead, 
And  guilt's  chief  foe,  in  Addison,  is  fled  ; 
Congreve,  who,  crown'd  with  laurels,  fairly  won, 
Sits  smiling  at  the  goal,  while  others  run  : 
He  will  not  write  ;  and  (more  provoking  still !) 
Ye  gods  !  he  will  not  write,  and  Maevius  will. 

Doubly  distrest,  what  author  shall  we  find, 
Discreetly  daring,  and  severely  kind, 
The  courtly  Roman's  shining  path  to  tread, 
And  sharply  smile  prevailing  folly  dead .° 


I  66  OR  THOME  TR  J  '. 

Will  no  superior  genius  snatch  the  quill, 
And  save  me,  on  the  brink,  from  writing-  ill? 
Though  vain  the  strife,  I'll  strive  my  voice  to  raise  ; 
What  will  not  men  attempt  for  sacred  praise  ? 

Young. 

Here,  within  the  distance  of  ten  couplets,  are 
two  rhymes  twice  repeated,  and  one  three  times. 
Again  : 

For  when  the  tender  rinds  of  trees  di&ctose 

Their  shooting  gems,  a  swelling  knot  there  grows  : 

Just  in  that  space  a  narrow  slit  we  make, 

Then  other  buds  from  bearing  trees  we  take  : 

Inserted  thus,  the  wounded  rind  we  close, 

In  whose  moist  womb  th'  admitted  infant  grows. 

But  when  the  smoother  bole  from  knots  is  free, 

We  make  a  deep  incision  in  the  tree  ; 

And  in  the  solid  wood  the  slip  enclose ; 

The  battening  bastard  shoots  again  and  grows. 

Dryden. 

The  fault  is  still  greater  when  two  couplets 
together  have  the  same  rhyme,  as  : 

With  soothing  words  to  Venus  she  \>?gun : 
High  praises,  endless  honours  you  have  won, 
And  mighty  trophies  with  your  worthy  son  : 
Two  gods  a  silly  woman  have  ui\do?ie. 

Dry  den. 

Nor  is  the  fault  much  less  when  the  rhymes, 
though  not  the  same,  are  so  near  as  to  differ  only 
by  a  single  letter,  as  in  this  instance  : 

The  lofty  skies  at  once  come  pouring  down, 
The  promised  crop  and  golden  labours  drown. 


RHYME.  167 

The  dikes  are  filPd,  and  with  a  roaring  sound] 
The  rising  rivers  float  the  nether  ground. 

Dry  den. 

The    following    couplets    in    Pope's   Rape  of   the 
Lock  are  very  remarkable  : 

The  doubtful  beam  long  nods  from  side  to  side  ; 
At  length  the  wits  mount  up,  the  hairs  subside. 
See,  fierce  Belinda  on  the  Baron  flies, 
With  more  than  usual  lightning  in  her  eyes  : 
Nor  fear'd  the  chief  th'  unequal  fight  to  try, 
Who  sought  no  more  than  on  his  foe  to  die. 
But  the  bold  lord,  with  manly  strength  endued, 
She  with  one  finger  and  a  thumb  subdued. 
Just  where  the  breath  of  life  his  nostrils  drew, 
A  pinch  of  snuff  the  wily  virgin  thre\v  : 

Canto  5. 

The  first  three  couplets  have  nearly  the  same 
rhymes,  so  have  the  two  others  ;  and  to  mark  the 
poet's  negligence  in  this  passage,  the  rhymes  of  the 
first  and  fourth  couplets  have  the  additional  fault  of 
being  identical. 

These  are  faults  which,  though  not  inexcusable 
in  a  long  work,  are  by  no  means  to  be  allowed  in 
short  pieces  ;  for  in  such,  to  be  correct  and  polished 
makes  a  considerable  part  of  their  merit.  This 
frequent  repetition  of  rhymes  may  be  perhaps 
allowed  or  at  least  will  not  be  severely  con- 
demned in  lyric  compositions,  where  the  return 
of  the  regular  stanza  lays  the  author  under  a 
greater  restraint.  An  instance  of  such  repetition 
occurs  in  Gray : 


1 6  8  OR  THOME  TR  Y. 

Ambition  this  shall  tempt  to  rise, 
Then  whirl  the  wretch  from  high, 
To  bitter  Scorn  a  sacrifice, 

And  grinning  Infamy. 
The  stings  of  Falsehood  these  shall  try, 
And  hard  Unkindness'  alter'd  eye. 

"  Ode  on  the  Prospect  of  Eton  Coll." 

Another  fault  to  be  mentioned  here  is  the  intro- 
duction of  words  merely  for  the  sake  of  rhyme. 
This  is  done  in  various  ways — first,  by  making  use 
of  unnecessary  and  superfluous  words,  as  : 


Rome,  the  terror  of  the  world, 

At  length  shall  sink,  in  ruin  hurled. 


Again  : 


So,  when  a  smooth  expanse  receives  impressed 
Calm  Nature's  image  on  its  watery  breast. 

That  is,  when  a  smooth  piece  of  water  reflects 
natural  objects.  Now  in  both  these  instances  the 
rhymes  are  made  by  words  that  had  better  been 
omitted ;  and  the  last  not  only  clogs  the  sentence, 
but  gives  a  false  idea ;  for  the  objects  which  are 
reflected  by  a  mirror  are  not  impressed  upon  it. 

This  arises  sometimes  when  a  rhyme  is  wanted 
for  a  word  that  has  but  few  rhymes  to  it  in  the  lan- 
guage. The  term  world  is  one  of  these  ;  there  are 
-not  above  five  that  will  pair  with  it ;  two  of  which 
axzfurled  and  hurled^  and  these  being  more  pliable 
than  the  others,  are  therefore  often  worked  up  into 
.some  distorted  phrase  to  furnish  a  rhyme;  for  ex- 
ample : 


RHYME.  1 69 

Let  Envy  in  a  whirlwind's  bosom  hurled, 
Outrageous,  search  the  corners  of  the  world. 

In  him  He  all  things  with  strange  order  hurled  ; 
In  him,  that  full  abridgment  of  the  world. 

Another  form  of  this  blemish  is,  by  pitching  upon 
some  rhyme,  to  which  all  the  rest  of  the  sentence 
is  to  be  held  subservient ;  and  then,  for  want  of  a 
proper  word  to  match  with  the  rhyme  already  deter- 
mined, the  poet  is  often  obliged  to  substitute  such 
as  he  can  get.  Butler  ridicules  this  in  the  couplet : 

But  those  that  write  in  rhyme  still  make 
The  one  verse  for  another's  sake. 

A  couplet  from  the  Epistle  of  Eloisa  to  Abelard 
will  explain  and  exemplify  what  we  mean.  Pope 
had  to  express  in  rhyme  and  measure  this  sen- 
tence :  "  I  would  rather  be  the  mistress  of  the  man 
I  love,  than  the  empress  of  Caesar/*  Of  this  he  took 
the  strong  energetic  part  for  his  close,  "  Make  me 
mistress  to  the  man  I  love,"  and  having  thus  fixed 
his  rhyme,  he  sacrifices  the  other  line  to  it;  for,  as 
the  sentence  afforded  him  no  second  word  to  match 
with  the  rhyme  he  had  taken,  he  was  driven  to 
make  out  the  sense  as  well  as  he  could  by  some 
substitute.  He  therefore  substituted  the  term  prove 
as  an  equivalent  to  be  ;  and  the  ardent  sentiment 
of  Eloisa  was  enfeebled  by  these  expressions  : 

Not  Caesar's  empress  would  I  deign  to  prove  ;  * 
'No,  make  me  mistress  to  the  man  I  love. 

Pope. 

*  All  who  have  dabbled  in  amatory  verse  must  have  felt  the  want  of 
more  words  to  rhyme  with  love. 


I  7  O  OR  THOME TR  Y. 

The  notice  taken  of  this  imperfection  leads  to 
the  mention  of  another  very  similar  to  it.  Our 
versifiers,  for  the  most  part,  are  well  acquainted 
with  poetical  language,  and  possess  a  store  of 
terms  and  phrases  which  are  very  fit  and  proper 
to  be  employed  in  the  composition  of  verse;  but 
they  often  commit  mistakes  in  the  application  of 
them.  Among  their  errors  one  arises  from  this  : 
that  they  consider  certain  words  to  be  synony- 
mous which  are  only  partially  so.  For  instance, 
a  head  of  hair  and  tresses  frequently  mean  the 
same  thing  ;  but  we  cannot  properly  give  the  name 
of  tresses  to  every  head  of  hair.  Again,  waves 
and  water  are  the  same  :  every  wave  is  water ;  but 
water  in  every  situation  and  quantity  is  not  to  be 
called  a  wave.  The  misapplication  of  such  terms  as 
these,  and  the  indifferent  use  of  one  for  the  other, 
as  if  they  had  the  same  signification  in  all  cases, 
is  a  blemish  in  our  poetry,  and  it  deserves  anim- 
adversion. It  is  admitted,  sometimes  for  the 
purpose  of  supposed  poetical  ornament,  and  some- 
times for  the  more  urgent  purpose  of  supplying  a 
rhyme.  Tyros  in  the  art  of  versifying  are  the 
worst  offenders  in  this  respect,  yet  traces  of  it  are 
to  be  seen  in  writers  of  a  much  higher  order.  In 
Pope's  Windsor  Forest  the  river  Thames  is  described 
thus: 

In  that  blest  moment  from  his  oozy  bed 
Old  Father  Thames  advanced  his  reverend  head. 
His  tresses  dropp'd  with  dews,  and  o'er  the  stream 
His  shining  horns  diffused  a  golden  gleam. 

Tresses   are    braided   hair,  and  the  term  is  gen- 


RHYME.  I  7  i 

erally,  if  not  always,  used  to  signify  the  hair  of  a 
female  head.  They  would  make  an  incongruous 
appearance  in  the  head-dress  of  a  reverend  old 
viau,  but  they  are  here  put  for  hair  of  the  head 
in  general,  which  is  a  misuse  of  the  word.  Milton 
had  occasion  to  use  this  word  when  describing 
Adam  and  Eve  in  Paradise ;  and  he  marks,  by 
many  distinguishing  circumstances,  the  wide  dif- 
ference between  the  male  and  female  head  of  hair 
in  those  whom  he  represents  as  perfect  models  of 
human  beauty. 

His  hyacinthine  locks 

Round  from  his  parted  forelock  manly  hung 
Clustering,  but  not  beneath  his  shoulders  broad  : 
She,  as  a  veil,  down  to  the  slender  waist, 
Her  unadorned  golden  tresses  wore 
Dishevell'd,  but  in  wanton  ringlets  waved, 
As  the  vine  curls  her  tendrils. 

Besides  these  faults  it  has  been  reckoned  another 
to  make  the  great  majority  of  rhymes  with  mono- 
syllables. Goldsmith  has  been  censured  for  this, 
and  Gray,  in  his  remarks  on  the  poems  of  Lydgate, 
says  :  "  We  (the  English)  are  almost  reduced  to 
find  our  rhymes  among  the  monosyllables,  in 
which  our  tongue  too  much  abounds.  In  Pope's 
Ethic  epistles  (that  to  Lord  Burlington),  I  find,  in 
the  compass  of  forty  lines,  only  seven  words  at 
the  end  of  a  verse  which  are  not  monosyllables. 
That  it  is  undesirable  to  rhyme  with  such  mono- 
syllables as  are  trifling  and  insignificant  words,  is 
acknowledged,  as  has  been  already  observed ;  but 
to  object  to  monosyllables  for  rhymes,  merely 


UNIVER8ITI 


172  OR  THOMETR  Y. 

because  they  are  so,  is  fastidious,  nor  can  the  objec- 
tion, as  applied  to  our  language,  be  justified." 


6.— ARRANGEMENT   OF   RHYMES. 

Before  closing  the  chapter  on  rhymes,  some 
remarks  appear  necessary  as  to  their  arrangement 
in.  verse,  and  as  to  the  kinds  of  poetry  to  which 
their  introduction  seems  suitable  and  necessary. 
Rhymes  are  arranged  either  : 

(i)  Consecutively  in  couplets  and  rarely  in  triplets, 
or 

(ii)  Alternately ',  as  in  the  elegiac  stanza  and 
ballad  metre,  or 

(iii)  At  irregular  intervals,  or  crossed,  of  which 
numerous  examples  will  be  found  in  "  Combina- 
tions of  Verse,"  and  the  "  Sonnet."  Puttenham,  in 
his  "  Art  of  Poetry,"  adopted  an  elaborate  system 
of  angular  and  wavy  lines  to  illustrate  such 
arrangements,  a  plan  which  we  decline  to  adopt 
as  unnecessary  and  disfiguring  to  verse  presenta- 
tion. The  student,  who  is  accustomed  to  read 
with  pencil  in  hand,  will  know  how  and  when  to 
mark  the  points  on  which  his  attention  should  rest. 

By  arrangement  is  to  be  understood  the  order  in 
which  rhymes  ought  to  stand  to  produce  the  best 
effect,  i.e.  to  satisfy  the  ear ;  for  the  ear  will  be 
better  pleased  with  the  rhymes  that  are  perfect, 
if  they  stand  in  one  order  rather  than  another, 
and  a  skilful  managment  in  ordering  those  that 
are  imperfect  will  render  them  less  displeasing. 
The  quick  return  of  the  same  sound,  however 


RHYME.  173 

pleasing  to  the  ear  and  suitable  to  the  nature  of 
the  lighter  kinds  of  verse,  is  inconsistent  with  the 
gravity  and  sublimity  that  characterise  the  higher 
forms  of  poetic  expression.  At  the  same  time  if 
the  interval  that  separates  the  rhyming  words  be 
too  great,  their  correspondence  on  the  ear,  which 
is  the  main  purpose  of  rhyme,  would  be  lost. 
When  three  heroic  lines  intervene,  they  seem  to 
be  set  as  far  asunder  as  can  be  allowed  with  pro- 
priety. No  definite  rules  bearing  upon  the  sub- 
ject can  be  deduced  from  the  writings  of  our  best 
poets,  and  little  more  can  be  said  with  certainty 
beyond  the  two  broad  principles  stated  above. 
The  remarks  that  are  made  as  to  the  disposition 
of  rhymes  in  the  pure  Italian  form  of  the  sonnet, 
and  in  the  Spenserian  stanza,  may  be  appropriately 
referred  to  here.  In  the  case  of  imperfect  rhymes, 
if  the  broader  and  longer  vowel  sound  be  arranged 
to  come  before  the  corresponding  shorter  one,  and 
a  hard  consonant  sound  precede  the  corresponding 
soft  sound,  the  discordance  between  them  is  not 
so  disagreeable  as  when  this  order  is  reversed.  And 
the  same  applies  to  a  word  of  many  syllables,  the 
last,  of  course,  being  unaccented,  rhyming  with 
a  monosyllable,  the  light  ending  should  always 
come  last. 

Rhyme  is  a  non-essential  element  in  verse. 
Minstrels  poured  forth  their  lays  of  war  and  lova 
long  before  the  chiming  of  similar  sounds  had  been 
thought  of.  In  our  own  language  traces  of  it  are 
to  be  found  as  far  back  as  the  tenth  century,  and 
although  Chaucer  may  be  said  to  have  popularised 


174  OR  THOME  TR  Y. 

it  in  his  Canterbury  Tales  towards  the  end  of  the 
fourteenth  century,  and  all  succeeding  poets  have 
made  use  of  it  more  or  less,  it  was  long  looked  down 
upon  as  a  barbarous  innovation,  and  is  still  regarded 
by  some  as  a  meretricious  aid  to  "poesie  divine." 
All  the  very  greatest  poems  in  all  languages  are 
rhymeless.  The  additional  restrictions  that  it  im- 
poses upon  the  freedom  of  the  poet  have  caused  it 
to  be  discarded  in  all  the  masterpieces  of  poetic 
art.  Some  few  noble  and  lengthy  poems,  like 
Spenser's  Fairie  Queen  and  Byron's  Childe  Harold, 
no  doubt  owe  much  of  their  charm  to  its  em- 
bellishments, but  its  use  seems  more  suitably  re- 
stricted to  lyrical  pieces  of  all  kinds,  as  well  as  to 
verse  of  a  descriptive  and  humorous  kind. 


ALLITERATION. 

ALLITERATION  is  the  frequent  recurrence  of  the 
same  letter  or  sound  at  the  beginning  of  words  in 
a  verse,  forming  a  kind  of  initial  rhyme,  e.g.  : 

Carking  care, 
Green-eyed  grief,  and  dull  despair. 

Kirke  White. 

It  was  an  essential  element  in  Anglo-Saxon 
and  Old  English  poetry,  which,  for  the  most  part, 
consists  of  short  couplets  containing  three  or  four 
accented  syllables,  linked  together  by  alliterative 
consonance.*  Here  is  a  specimen  from  the  open- 
ing lines  of  Piers  the  Plowman's  Vision,  written  by 
Willam  Langlande  about  1362  : 

In  a  somer  seson, 
When  softe  was  the  sonne, 
I  shope  me  in  shrubbes 
As  I  a  shepe  were  ; 
In  habit  as  an  hermit, 
Unholy  of  workes. 

Again,  from  the  same  poem  : 

There  preached  a  pardoner, 
As  he  a  prieste  were  ; 
Brought  forth  a  bull 
With  many  bishops'  seals. 

*  See  Development  of  Versification,  p.  256. 


I  7  6  OR  THOMETR  Y. 

When  Chaucer  began  to  reform  our  versification, 
and  introduced  the  regular  rhythmic  flow  of  ac- 
cented syllables  and  the  new  element  of  rhyme, 
alliteration  ceased  to  be  an  essential  to  English 
verse,  but  it  has  always  retained  its  hold  as  an 
aid  and  embellishment  to  its  melody.  The  Eliza- 
bethan poets  evinced  a  marked  fondness  for  its 
"  artful  aid,"  and  used  it  with  great  taste  and  skill, 
as  for  example  : 

Sitting  by  a  river's  side, 
Where  a  silent  stream  did  glide, 
Muse  I  did  of  many  things 
That  the  mind  in  quiet  brings. 

Greene. 

Repining  courage  yields 
No  foot  to  foe  :  the  flashing  fire  flies 
As  from  a  forge. 

Sfienser* 

In  the  fashionable  craze  called  Euphuism*  of 
Queen  Elizabeth's  reign,  alliteration  was  carried  to 
a  ridiculous  excess,  which  furnished  occasion  for 

*  Ephuism  takes  its  name  from  Euphies,  or  the  Anatomy  of  Wit  by 
John  Lily,  a  minor  dramatist  of  Elizabeth's  reign  (1554-1600).  It  was 
written  in  a  ridiculously  ornate  style,  abounding  in  conceits,  classical 
allusions,  forced  antitheses,  and  alliterations.  It  took  the  popular  fancy 
of  the  time,  and  became  much  in  vogue  with  the  wits  and  dandies  of 
Elizabeth's  Court.  Sir  Walter  Scott  parodies  its  use  in  the  Monastery  in 
the  person  of  Sir  Percie  Shafton  ;  here  is  an  example  : 

"And  now  having  wished  to  my  fairest  Discretion  those  pleasant 
dreams  which  wave  their  pinions  around  the  couch  of  sleeping 
beauty,  and  to  this  comely  damsel  the  beauties  of  Morpheus,  and  to 
all  others  the  common  good  night,  I  will  crave  your  leave  to  depart 
to  my  place  of  rest." 

Euphuism  should  not  be  confounded  with  Euphemism,  which  is  an 
expression  in  which  the  offensiveness  of  a  thought  is  somewhat  hidden : 
e.g.,  "  He  has  gone  to  that  other  world, which  is  not  heaven." 


ALLITERATION.  177 

Shakspere's  mock  imitation  of  it  in  Love's  Labour's 
Lost.  Holofernes,  the  pedantic  pedagogue,  writes 
some  verses  which  he  calls  "  An  Extemporal  Epi- 
taph on  the  Death  of  the  Deer  :  "  they  run  : 

The  praiseful  princess  pierced  and  pricked  a  pretty 
Pleasing  pricket ; 

Some  say,  a  sore  ;  but  not  a  sore  till  now  made 
Sore  with  shooting. 

He  ridicules  the  excessive  use  of  it  again  in  the 
bombastic  words  of  Bottom  : 

Whereat,  with  blade,  with  bloody,  blameful  blade, 
He  bravely  broached  his  boiling,  bloody  breast. 

' '  Midsummer  Nighf  s  Dream . ' ' 

Nevertheless  he  avails  himself  of  this  simple 
ornament  with  rare  felicity  throughout  his  entire 

works. 

This  precious  stone  set  in  a  silver  sea. 

"Richard II.  " 

Our  dreadful  marches  to  delightful  measures. 

' 'Richard  III? 

He  capers  nimbly  in  his  lady's  chamber 
To  the  lascivious  pleasing  of  a  lute. 

"  Richard  III." 

Myself  could  else  out-frown  false  fortune's  frown. 

"  King  Lear  " 

Whose  influence,  like  a  wreath  of  radiant  fire, 
On  flickering  Phoebus  front. 

"  King  Lear  " 

N 


OR  THOME  TR  Y. 

Poor  naked  wretches,  wheresoe'er  you  are, 
That  bide  the  pelting  of  this  pitiless  storm. 

"King  Lear? 

I'll  look  to  like,  if  looking  liking  move. 

"  Romeo  and  Juliet" 

Jocund  day 
Stands  tiptoe  on  the  misty  mountain  tops. 

'  '  Romeo  and  Juliet.  '  ' 

His  virtues 

Will  plead,  like  angels,  trumpet-tongued,  against 
The  deep  damnation  of  his  taking  off. 

"Macbeth." 

But  now  I'm  cabin'd,  cribb'd,  confined. 


After  life's  fitful  fever  he  sleeps  well. 

"Macbeth." 

Life  is  as  tedious  as  a  twice-told  tale, 
Vexing  the  dull  ear  of  a  dying  man. 

"King  John? 

My  story  being  done, 

She  gave  me  for  my  pains  a  world  of  sighs  : 
She  swore  —  in  faith,  'twas  strange,  'twas  passing  strange, 
'Twas  pitiful,  'twas  wondrous  pitiful. 

"  Othello." 

Then  the  whining  schoolboy,  with  his  satchel, 
And  shining  morning  face,  creeping  like  snail, 
Unwillingly  to  school. 

"As  You  Like  It." 

They  are  not  a  pipe  for  Fortune's  finger 
To  sound  what  stop  she  please. 

"Hamlet*" 


AL  LITER  A  TION.  1 7  9 

Make  thy  two  eyes  like  stars  start  from  their  spheres. 

"  Hamlet r 

Milton's  use  of  alliteration  is  not  so  marked  in 
his  epics  as  in  the  minor  poems.  He  also  em- 
ploys various  devices  to  tone  down  the  alliterative 
effect  by  (i)  employing  it  with  unaccented  syl- 
lables ;  (2)  with  syllables  other  than  the  initial  one; 
and  (3)  by  the  use  of  consonants  similar  but  not 
identical  in  sound,  as  b,  p,  t,  &c.  His  exquisite 
skill  in  the  choice  of  words  for  all  the  purposes  of 
picturesque  and  melodic  effect  is  unsurpassed  by 
any  of  our  poets.  The  very  sound  of  many  of  his 
verses,  even  apart  from  the  sense,  has  a  distinct 
pleasurable  effect. 

Deep  on  his  front  engraven 
Deliberation  sat,  and  public  care. 

' '  Paradise  Lost. ' ' 

The  rising  wind  of  waters,  dark  and  deep. 

"  Paradise  Lost." 

That  soil  may  best 
Deserve  the  precious  bane  .... 

"  Paradise  Lost." 

Moping  melancholy, 
And  moon-struck  madness. 

"  Paradise  Lost." 

\_          Perhaps  some  cold  bank  is  her  bolster  now. 

"  Comus." 

Or  'gainst  the  rugged  bark  of  some  broad  elm. 

"  Comus" 


I  So  OR  THOME  TR  I  ". 

Yet  they  in  pleasing  slumber  lulled  the  sense. 

"  Comus." 

Sweetest  Shakspere,  Fancy's  child, 
Warble  his  native  wood-notes  wild. 

"L'  Allegro." 

Lap  me  in  soft  Lydian  airs, 
Married  to  immortal  verse. 

"  L'  Allegro." 

Sweet  bird,  that  shunn'st  the  noise  of  folly, 
Most  musical,  most  melancholy. 

"  //  Penseroso" 

Sometimes  we  have  instances  of  vowel  allitera 
tion,  e.g.  : 

Where  awful  arches  make  a  noonday  night. 

P 

Tho'  oft  the  ear  the  open  vowels  tire. 


With  sudden  adoration  and  blank  awe. 

Milton. 

Sleep  on,  thou  mighty  dead, 

A  glorious  tomb  they've  found  thee,  — 

The  broad  blue  sky  above  thee  spread, 
The  boundless  ocean  round  thee. 

Lyte. 

Dryclen  and  Pope  both  avail  themselves  freely 
of  this  poetic  ornament  ;  the  latter  seems  specially 
to  have  taken  care  to  make  the  consonance  less 
obvious  by  separating  the  words  more  than  usual  : 


ALLITERATION.  l8l 

Deep  in  a  dungeon  was  the  captive  cast, 
Deprived  of  day,  and  held  in  fetters  fast. 

Dry  den. 

So,  speechless,  for  a  little  space  he  lay. 

Dry  den. 

One  laced  the  helm,  another  held  the  lance. 

Dryden. 

The  bookful  blockhead,  ignorantly  read, 
With  loads  of  learned  lumber  in  his  head. 

Pope. 

Speed  the  soft  intercourse  from  soul  to  soul, 
And  waft  a  sigh  from  Indus  to  the  Pole. 

Pope. 

Soft  as  the  slumbers  of  a  saint  forgiven. 

Pope. 

Who  shall  decide  when  doctors  disagree  ? 

Pope. 

We  conquered  France,  but  felt  our  captive's  charms. 

Pope. 

In  the  following  verse  Pope  employs  it  skilfully  in 
an  elaborate  onomatopeia : 

Up  the  high  hill  he  heaves  a  huge  round  stone. 

Alliteration  enters  largely  as  a  melodic  element 
into  all  our  modern  poetry,  but  for  the  most  part 
its  effect  is  more  artfully  concealed.  No  doubt  it 
is  often  employed  unconsciously,  for  in  the  choice 
of  words  association  as  well  as  sound  affects  the 


1 8  2  OR  THOME  TR  Y. 

taste  in  selection.     Here  follows  a  selection  from 
our  nineteenth-century  poets : 

Back  to  the  struggle,  baffled  in  the  strife. 

Byron. 

Beneath  its  base  are  heroes'  ashes  hid. 

Byron. 

There  is  a  pleasure  in  the  pathless  woods. 

Byron. 

Foiled,  bleeding,  breathless,  furious  to  the  last, 
Full  in  the  centre  stands  the  bull  at  bay. 

Byron. 

Drank  the  last  life  drop  of  his  bleeding  breast. 

Byron. 

Sounds  sweet  as  if  a  sister's  voice  reproved. 

Byron. 

Like  a  glow-worm  golden 
In  a  dell  of  dew. 

Shelley. 

Our  sincerest  laughter 
With  some  pain  is  fraught : 

Our  sweetest  songs  are  those  that  tell  of  saddest  thought. 

Shelley. 

The  lustre  of  the  long  convolvuleses. 

Temiyson. 

Havelock  baffled,  or  beaten,  or  butchered,  for  all  that  we  knew. 

This  truth  came  borne  with  bier  and  pall, 
I  felt  it  when  I  sorrowed  most, 
'Tis  better  to  have  loved  and  lost 

Than  never  to  have  loved  at  all. 

Tennyson. 


ALL  ITERA  TION.  183 

Abou  Ben  Adhem  (may  his  tribe  increase  !) 
Awoke  one  night  from  a  deep  dream  of  peace, 

Leigh  Hunt. 

Alone,  alone,  all,  all  alone, 
Alone  on  a  wide,  wide  sea. 

Coleridge. 

The  fair  breeze  blew  ;  the  white  foam  flew, 
The  furrow  followed  free. 

Coleridge. 

The  sentinel  stars  set  their  watch  in  the  sky. 

Campbell. 


BLANK  VERSE. 

THIS  term,  although  it  includes  all  unrhymed 
measures,  is  generally  restricted  to  Heroic  verse, 
or  Iambic  pentameter.  In  it  are  embalmed  the 
masterpieces  of  English  poetry,  Milton's  epics 
and  Shakspere's  dramas.  It  was  first  employed  in 
English  verse  by  the  Earl  of  Surrey,  who  also  in- 
troduced the  sonnet,  during  the  reign  of  Henry 
VIII.,  in  a  translation  which  he  made  of  the  second 
and  fourth  books  of  the  jflZneid,  the  opening  lines 
of  which  are  as  follows  : 

They  whisted  all,  with  fixed  face  attent, 
When  Prince  ^Eneas  from  the  royal  seat 
Thus  'gan  to  speak  :  O  Queen,  it  is  thy  will 
I  should  renew  a  woe  cannot  be  told. 

These  lines  are  not  an  unfavourable  specimen  of 
the  kind  of  verse  ;  they  run  smoothly,  and  the  pause 
is  varied — in  fact  they  would  bear  comparison  with 
the  blank  verse  of  all  but  the  greatest  masters. 

Blank  verse  is  less  trammelled  by  artificial 
restrictions,  and  its  rhythm  is  improved  by  the  in- 
troduction of  a  greater  number  of  deviations  from 
normal  regularity  than  any  other  measure  in  Eng- 
lish, or  indeed  of  any  other  language,  ancient  or 


BLANK  VERSE.  185 

modern.  It  admits  into  its  composition  a  free  use 
of  at  least  five  different  kinds  of  feet,  whereas  in 
the  most  commonly  used  classical  measure,  the 
hexameter,  only  two  kinds,  dactyls  and  spondees, 
find  place.  The  simplicity  of  its  structure,  and  the 
almost  infinite  variety  of  rhythmic  effect  of  which 
it  is  capable,  render  it  the  noblest  vehicle  of 
poetic  expression  which  the  melodic  instincts  of 
mankind  have  conceived.  Each  great  poet  that 
has  employed  it  to  any  extent  has  given  to  it  a  dis- 
tinctive character,  which  even  an  untrained  ear 
would  readily  detect.  Read  aloud,  for  instance,  a 
passage  from  Wordsworth's  Excursion,  or  Cowper's 
Task,  and  follow  it  by  a  full-mouthed  piece  from 
Milton,  and  then  by  some  verses  of  Shakspere's,  free 
and  mellifluent  as  a  summer  breeze  ;  the  marked 
contrast  in  the  rhythmic  flow  is  unmistakable. 

i.— LICENCES. 

The  chief  licences  allowable  in  standard  blank 
verse  have  already  been  enumerated  and  illustrated, 
p.  122,  but  it  will  be  as  well  here,  for  the  sake  of 
completeness,  to  recapitulate  and  supplement 
what  has  there  been  said. 

(i)  A  pyrrhic  foot  (^  — )  may  take  the  place  of 
an  iambus  in  any  part  of  the  line,  though  rarely 
in  the  fifth  foot ;  two,  and  (very  rarely)  three,  such 
substitutions  may  occur  in  the  same  verse,  but  then 
the  approach  to  prose  is  dangerously  close. 

(ii)  Spondees  (-  -)  may  also  find  place  in  any 
part  of  the  line,  though  the  metrical  accent  is  only 


1 86  ORTHOMETRY. 

given  to  the  second  syllable  of  each.  Two  spondees 
often  occur  together,  and  occasionally  as  many  as 
three  or  four. 

(iii)  Trochees  (-  ~)  are  occasionally  admissible, 
but  much  more  sparingly  than  either  of  the  former, 
as  their  run  from  strong  to  weak  breaks  the  regular 
iambic  flow  weak  to  strong.  Two  trochees  should 
never  occur  together,  and  not  more  than  two  in 
the  same  line.  They  are  to  be  found  frequently 
in  the  first  foot,  occasionally  in  the  third  and 
fourth,  but  rarely  in  the  second  and  fifth. 

(iv)  Trisyllabic  feet  are  also  frequently  used  for 
iambic,  especially  anapests  (^  -),  which  have  the 
same  rhythmic  run  from  weak  to  strong  ;  the  utmost 
limit  of  such  substitution  is  three  to  five. 

(v)  An  additional  unaccented  syllable  is  fre- 
quently found  at  the  end  of  a  verse,  and  occasion- 
ally a  twelfth  syllable  is  added,  but  there  must  be 
no  sixth  accent.  This  liberty  is  mostly  confined  to 
dramatic  verse. 

The  canons  here  concisely  laid  down  have  been 
carefully  deduced  from  the  usage  of  our  best  poets, 
and  are  in  agreement  with  the  views  of  the  most 
recent  authorities  on  our  versification.  Mr.  Ellis 
says,*  "  The  number  of  syllables  may  therefore  be 
greater  than  ten,  and  the  accents  maybe,  and  gener- 
ally are,  less  than  five.  If  there  be  accent  at  the  end  of 
the  third  and  fifth  group,  or  at  the  end  of  the  second 
and  fourth,  other  accents  maybe  distributed  almost 
at  pleasure."  Dr.  Abbottf  states  that  about  one 

*  Ellis,  "  Essentials  of  Phonetics,"  p.  77. 
f  Abbott,  "  Shaksperian  Grammar,"  p.  453. 


BLANK  VERSE.  187 

line  in  three  has  the  full  number  of  emphatic  accents, 
about  two  in  four  have  four,  and  one  out  of  fifteen 
three. 

Mr.  Conway*  has  drawn  out  with  elaborate  pre- 
cision a  table  in  which  he  gives  thirty- five  different 
arrangements  of  the  accents  found  in  heroic  lines 
of  approved  authors,  seven  with  the  full  number 
of  five,  fifteen  with  four,  eleven  with  three,  and  ten 
with  two.  Now,  if  to  all  these  allowable  variations  in 
the  arrangement  of  the  accented  syllables  we  add 
the  practically  limitless  change  that  may  be  made 
in  the  position  of  the  pauses  in  successive  lines,  we 
shall  at  once  realise  the  boundless  capabilities  of 
rhythmical  variety  that  this  measure  presents. 
Well  may  it  be  selected  as  the  most  suitable  form 
of  verse  for  lofty  and  continuous  poetical  utterance. 

2.-EPIC   OR   HEROIC   BLANK  VERSE. 
MILTON. 

The  singular  excellence  of  Milton's  blank  verse 
being  generally  admitted,  we  will  here  point  out 
some  of  its  causes,  or  at  least  some  of  those  quali- 
ties which  are  most  apparent  and  eminent  in  his 
versification.  He  has  availed  himself  of  the  use  of 
mixed  metre  to  the  utmost  possible  extent,  such 
as  these : 

Draw  after  him  the  third  |  part  of  |  Heaven's  host. 
Deliberate  valour  breath'd  [  firm  and  |  unmoved. 

*  Gilbert  Conway,   "  Treatise  on  Versification,"  p.  24.       (Longmans. 
London,  1878.) 


1 8  8  OR  THOME  TR  Y. 

Of  Eve,  whose  eye  |  darted  j  contagious  fire. 
How  art  thou  lost !  |  how  on  |  a  sudden  lost ! 
Uni  |  versal  J  reproach,  far  worse  to  bear. 
Anon,  j  out  of  ]  the  earth,  a  fabric  huge. 
Better  |  to  reign  in  hell  than  serve  in  heaven. 

These  licences  are  all  of  one  kind ;  viz.  the  sub- 
stitution of  the  trochaic  for  the  iambic  foot,  and  it 
is  this  which  offends  the  ear  in  some  of  Milton's 
lines,  as  in  this  : 

Yet  fell ;  remember,  and  ]  fear  to  |  transgress. 

But  it  offends  only  because  there  is  no  pause  before 
it ;  the  following,  which  has  exactly  the  same  feet, 
is  a  musical  line  : 

In  wood  or  wilderness,  j  forest  j  or  den. 

This  trochaic  substitution  being  the  direct  oppo- 
site to  the  fundamental  measure  of  the  heroic  line 
should  be  used  most  sparingly,  and  never  occur 
in  the  last  foot,  though  a  pyrrhic  or  spondee  may 
so  stand,  as  in  the  two  following  lines  : 

Till  even,  nor  then  the  solemn  night  |  ingale 
Ceased  warbling,  but  all  night  tuned  her  j  soft  lays. 

Here  are  examples  of  other  substituted  feet  in 
Milton's  verse : 

And  the  j  shrill  sounds  !  ran  echoing  through  the  wood, 


BLANK   VERSE.  189 

Murmuring,  |  and  with  him  fled  the  shades  of  night, 
Innu  |  merablc  |  before  th'  Almighty's  throne. 
Gambolled  |  before  |  them  ;  the  |  unwieldy  el  j  ephant. 
All  beasts  j  of  th(5  earth  |  since  wild,     and  of  j  all  chase. 

Through  man  |  y  a  dark  j  and  dreary  vale 
They  passed,  and  man  |  y  a  re  |  gion  do  j  lorous, 
O'er  man  j  y  a  fro  |  zen,  man     y  a  f I  |  ery  Alp, 
Rocks,    coves,  j  lakes,    fens,  j  bogs,   dens,  |  and    shades   of 
death. 

Xext  to  the  variety  of  feet  may  be  noticed  the 
variety  of  pauses  with  respect  to  their  position  in 
the  line.  Here  again  Milton's  excellence  appears  : 

However,  some  tradiuon  they  dispersed 
Among  the  heathen,  of  their  purchase  got, 
And  fabled  how  the  serpent,  whom  they  call'd 
Ophion,  with  Eurynome,  the  wide- 
Encroaching  Eve,  perhaps,  had  first  the  rule 
Of  hi^h  Olympus,  thence  by  Saturn  driven 
And  Ops,  e'er  yet  Dictsean  Jove  was  born. 

In  this  passage  the  pause  is  so  varied  that  no  two 
lines  together  have  it  in  the  same  place ;  and 
within  the  compass  of  seven  lines  it  stands  in  six 
different  places.  This  is  by  no  means  a,  singular 
instance  ;  a  variety,  similar  if  not  so  great,  is  one 
characteristic  of  this  poem. 

Millions  of  spirits  for  his  fault  amerced 
Of  heaven,  and  from  eternal  splendours  flung 
For  his  revolt ;  yet  faithful  how  they  stood, 
Their  glory  wither' d  :  as  when  heaven's  fire 


1 9  O  OR  THOME  TR  Y. 

Hath  scathed  the  forest  oaks  or  mountain  pines, 
With  singed  top  their  stately  growth,  though  bare, 
Stands  on  the  blasted  heath. 

Here,  from  the  second  line  to  the  sixth,  there  are 
as  many  different  pauses  as  lines. 

When  a  pause  falls  on  the  third,  or  fifth,  or  seventh 
syllable  of  a  verse,  the  foot  in  which  it  stands  will 
generally  be  a  pyrrhic,  because  the  connecting 
words  of  our  language,  as  conjunctions,  &c.,  are 
all  unaccented  ;  it  would  therefore  be  a  weak  foot, 
which  is  sometimes  to  be  guarded  against,  in  order 
to  preserve  what  Pope  calls  <l  the  full  resounding 
line,  the  majestic  march,"  of  the  heroic  measure. 
To  this  Milton  has  attended  in  many  passages  ;  for 
example  : 

Torments     him,  round  |  he  throws  [  his  bale  ]  ful  eyes. 
For  these  ]  rebell  |  ious,  here  |  their  prison  |  ordain'd. 
Breaking  |  the  horrid  silence,  thus  began. 
When  Je  |  sus,  son  of  Ma  |  ry,  second  Eve. 

Convulsions,  epilepsies,  fierce  catarrhs, 
Intestine  stone  and  ulcer,  colic-pangs, 
Demoniac  phrensy,  moping  melancholy, 
And  moon-struck  madness,  pining  atrophy, 
Marasmus,  and  wide-wasting  pestilence. 

In  every  line  here,  except  the  last,  the  syllable 
following  the  pause  is  accented ;  this  makes  the 
foot  an  iambic,  and  gives  a  fulness  to  the  measure. 
No  modern  poet  would  venture  to  construct  a  pas- 
sage such  as  the  last  one. 


BLANK   VERSE.  igi 

Another  circumstance  remarkable  in  Milton's 
versification  is  his  use  of  elisions.  The  practice  of 
cutting  off  a  vowel  at  the  end  of  a  word  was  not 
introduced  by  him  into  our  poetry,  but  he  revived 
it  when  it  had  become  obsolete  ;  so  that  his  manner 
appeared  as  a  novelty,  and  was  indeed  clearly 
different  from  that  of  other  poets,  and  even  from  his 
own  earlier  productions.  In  his  Comns  there  occur 
no  elisions  like  these  : 

His  temple  right  against  the  temple'  of  God — 
Anguish,  and  doubt,  and  fear,  and  sorrow',  and  pain — 
Abominable',  unutterable',  and  worse. 

The  length  of  periods,  occasionally  and  judiciously 
introduced,  is  another  distinguishing  feature.  Such 
is  the  following : 

Sing,  heavenly  Muse,  that  on  the  secret  top 
Of  Oreb,  or  of  Sinai,  didst  inspire 
That  shepherd  who  first  taught  the  chosen  seed, 
In  the  beginning,  how  the  heavens  and  earth 
Rose  out  of  chaos. 

To  these  may  be  added  the  frequent  inversions, 
as  this,  which  is  most  remarkable  : 

God,  from  the  Mount  of  Sinai,  whose  gray  top 
Shall  tremble,  he  descending,  shall  himself, 
In  thunder,  lightning,  and  loud  trumpet's  sound, 
Ordain  them  laws. 

But  in  Milton's  versification  nothing  is  more 
remarkable  than  the  skilful  manner  by  which  his 


I  9  2  OR  THOME  TRY. 

lines  are  connected  and  run  one  into  another.  This 
is  done  by  ending  the  line  in  that  part  of  a  sentence 
where  there  is  no  sensible  pause.  But  to  explain 
this  it  will  be  necessary  to  consider  how,  for  this 
purpose,  a  sentence  may  be  divided,  and  also  what 
makes  a  pause.  And  first  to  mention  what,  in  a 
simple  sentence,  will  produce  a  pause.  Take  a 
sentence  in  its  natural  order  of  words  :  viz.  ist, 
the  article ;  2nd,  the  nominative  case,  and  what 
may  be  joined  with  it,  as  adjective  or  genitive  case; 
3rd,  the  verb  ;  4th,  the  noun,  or  other  word  governed 
by  it,  e.g.  : 

The  affable  archangel  had  fore  warn' d 
Adam. 

Whatever  disturbs  this  natural  order  creates  a 
pause,  as : 

(i)  Transposition ;  i.e.  any  change  of  that  order, 
e.g.  : 

The  sojourners  of  Goshen,  who  beheld 
From  the  safe  shore  their  floating  carcases. 

Ahaz  his  sottish  conqueror,  whom  he  drew 
God's  altar  to  disparage. 

(ii)  The  insertion   of  any  phrase,    or  word,   not 
necessary  to  make  out  the  sentence  : 

r-  the  selfsame  place  where  he 

First  lighted  from  his  wing. 

my  sudden  hand 


Prevented,  spares  to  tell  thee  yet  by  deeds. 


BLANK   VERSE.  193 

CJn  a  sudden  open  fly 

IVith  impetuous  recoil  and  jarri?ig  sound 
The  infernal  doors. 

on  each  hand  the  flames 

Driven  backward,  slope  their  pointing  spires. 

(iii)  Apposition,  or  the  introduction  of  a  second 
word  having  the  same  signification  as  the  former ; 
this  differs  but  little  from  the  preceding,  e.g.  : 

or  that  sea-beast 


Leviathan >  which  God  of  all  his  works— 

'• yea,  often  placed 

Within  his  sanctuary  itself  their  shrines, 
Abominations,  and  with  cursed  things. 

Hid  Amalthea,  and  her  florid  son, 

Young  Bacclms,  from  his  step-dame  Rhea's  eye. 

By  any  of  these  means  a  pause  is  made,  even  in  a 
simple  sentence. 

Dramatic  writers  sometimes  end  a  line  with 
such' words  as  would  hardly  be  allowed  in  other 
kinds  of  serious  poetry ;  such  are  the  articles,  the  ad- 
jective pronouns, and  conjunctions.  Now  there  is  no 
pause  between  the,  article  and  its  noun,  nor  between 
the  pronoun  adjective  and  its  substantive ;  on  the 
contrary,  these  have.,  too  close  a  connexion  to  be 
separated.  But  verses  may  be  made  to  run  into 
one  another  by  dividing, a  sentence  in  other  parts, 
where  yet  there  is  no  pause. 

(1)  Between  two  substantives. 

(2)  Between  the  nominative  case  and  the  verb. 


194  ORTHOMETRY* 

(3)  Between  the  verb  and  the  accusative  case. 

(4)  Between  two  verbs.     These  breaks  are  of  the 
most  frequent  occurrence,  but  there  are  others,  as 

(5)  Between  the  adjective  and  its  substantive. 

(6)  Between  certain  pronouns  and  the  verb. 

(7)  Between  some   prepositions    and   the    word 
governed  by  them. 

The  following  instances  are  subjoined  to  show 
Milton's  use  of  these  divisions  : 


(i.)  Of  man's  first  disobedience,  and  the  fruit 
Of  that  forbidden  tree. 


(2.)  whose  mortal  taste 

Brought  death  into  the  world. 

(3.)  Sing,  heavenly  muse  that 

•  didst  inspire 

That  shepherd. 

(4.)  —      —  He  now  prepared 
To  speak  ;  whereat  their  doubled  ranks  they  bend. 

(5.)  God  their  creator  and  th'  invisible 
Glory  of  him  that  made  them  to  transform. 

the  gray 

Dawn,  and  the  Pleiades  before  him  danced. 

(6.)  And  feel  thy  sovran  vital  lamp  ;  but  thou 
Revisit'st  not  these  eyes. 

that  thou  art  naked,  who 


Hath  told  thee  ?  hast  thou  eaten  of  the  tree  ? 


BLANK   VERSE.  195 

(7.)  That  were  an  ignominy  and  shame  beneath 
This  downfall. 


Sole  Eve,  associate  sole,  to  me  beyond 
Compare  above  all  living  creatures  dear. 

These  prepositions  are  dissyllables  ;  the  smaller 
seldom,  if  ever,  occur  at  the  end  of  a  line.  We  find, 
but  very  rarely,  the  auxiliary  separated  from  its 
verb: 

That  with  reiterated  crimes  he  might 
Heap  on  himself  damnation. 

And  once  a  compound  epithet  is  divided  at  the  end 
of  a  verse : 

Ophion,  with  Eurynome,  the  wide- 
Encroaching  Eve  perhaps. 

All  these  qualities  enumerated  above  appear 
throughout  Milton's  versification,  which  indeed  he 
himself  has  described  in  his  note  prefixed  to  the 
Paradise  Losf,  in  these  words,  "  True  musical  delight 
consists  only  in  apt  numbers,  fit  quantity  of  sylla- 
bles, and  the  sense  variously  drawn  out  from  one 
verse  into  another."  Such,  according  to  his  judg- 
ment, are  the  essential  elements  to  good  verse,  and 
by  due  attention  to  what  he  here  laid  down  he 
attained  to  his  distinguished  eminence  in  this, 
which  is  the  highest  species  of  English  versifica- 
tion. 


1 9  6  OR  THOME  TR  Y. 

3.— DRAMATIC   BLANK  VERSE. 
SHAKSPERE. 

With  respect  to  dramatic  verse  very  little  con- 
sideration of  what  is  requisite  for  effective  stage 
representation  is  necessary  to  show  that  the 
utmost  freedom  and  variety  of  treatment  must  be 
allowed  in  this  species  of  composition.  The  verse 
is  not  the  language  of  the  poet,  but  of  the  char- 
acters whom  he  introduces  upon  the  stage.  Words 
of  the  deepest  passion  and  pathos  have  to  be 
altered  at  times,  but  without  causing  incongruity 
with  the  everyday  surroundings  of  life.  The  poet 
sinks  his  own  individuality  altogether,  while  his 
puppets  speak  and  act  as  real  men  and  women  do 
on  the  great  world's  stage.  The  dialogue,  elevated 
and  heroic  as  it  must  sometimes  be,  should  also 
\  be  natural  and  easily  comprehended ;  hence  in- 
volved constructions,  and  unusual  inversions,  and 
stilted  diction  are  out  of  place.  The  natural  order 
of  words  in  a  sentence  ought  not  to  be  violated  for 
the  sake  of  metre  beyond  what  would  be  deemed 
suitable  in  rhetorical  oratory.  The  audience  must 
readily  grasp  the  sense  of  the  words  as  they  are 
uttered  —  there  is  no  time  for  reflection.  To 
accomplish  all  this  the  dramatist  avails  himself 
freely  of  every  kind  of  poetic  licence,  already 
enumerated  and  illustrated,  and,  in  true  Bohemian 
spirit,  trespasses  the  conventionalities  of  versifica- 
tion still  further,  whenever  it  suits  his  purpose. 
Such  as  : 


BLANK   VERSE.  197 

(i)   The   free  use    of  one   or   two  hypermetrical 
syllables  : 

Thou  marshal's!  me  the  way  that  I  was  go  |  ing. 

"Macbeth." 

To-day  |  hg  puts  forth 

The  tender  leaves  of  hope,  to-morrow  bios  |  soms, 
And  bears  his  blushing  honours  thick  upon  |  him. 

"Henry  VII  I? 

He  were  much  goodlier  ;  is't  not  a  handsome  gen  |  tlfiman  ? 

"  A  Ws  Well  that  Ends  Well: 


Your  honour  and  your  goodness  is  so  ev  | 

"  Winter's  Tale." 

The  use  of  these  additional  syllables  increases  in 
Shakspere's  later  plays. 

(ii)   The  use    of  extra  mid-  syllables   before  the, 
caesural  pause,  which  also  becomes  more  marked 
in  the  latter  plays  of  Shakspere  : 

This  is  his  Majesty  ;  say  your  mind  to  him. 

"All's  Well." 

Then  when  I  feel  and  see  her,  no  further  trust  her. 

"Winter's  Tale." 

And  first-fruits  of  my  body,  from  his  presence 
I  am  barred. 

"Winters  Tale." 

The  marigold,  that  goes  to  bed  wi'  the  sun, 
And  with  him  rises  weeping;  these  are  flowers 
Of  middle  summer. 

"  Winters  Tale." 


1 9  8  OR  7  HOME  TR  Y. 

There  is  no  more  such  masters  :  I  may  wonder. 

"  Cymbeline" 

(iii)  Imperfect  lines  are  admissible,  i.e.  verses 
of  only  one,  t\vo,  or  three  feet— rarely  four.  When 
these  hetnistichs,  as  they  are  called,  come  together, 
they  require  to  be  scanned  as  a  continuous  line : 

Ophelia.  I  pray  you  now  receive  them. 
Hamlet.  No,  not  I  ; 

I  never  gave  her  aught. 

"•Hamlet." 

Of  but  a  sickly  part  of  one  true  sense 

Could  not  so  mope. 

O  shame,  where  is  thy  blush  ? 

"Hamlet? 

Occasionally,  Alexandrines  are  blended  with  the 
five-foot  verse  : 

Hamlet.  Honeying  and  making  love 

Over  the  nasty  sty, — 

Queen.  O,  speak  to  me  no  more  ! 

"Hamlet? 

(iv)  What  are  known  as  "  light "  and  "  weak  " 
endings  are  freely  used,  especially  in  the  choicest 
specimens  of  Shakspere's  verse.  By  the  former 
is  meant  the  termination  of  a  line  with  personal 
or  relative  pronouns,  or  auxiliary  verbs,  that  admit 
but  a  very  slight  pause  ;  by  the  latter  the  verse  is 
ended  by  prepositions  or  conjunctions  which  allow 
of  no  break  whatever ;  the  line  is  forced  to  run 


BLANK  VERSE.  199 

both  in  sound  and  sense  into  the  closest  connec- 
tion with  the  opening  words  of  the  succeeding 
verse,  e.g.  : 

The  power  I  serve 

Laughs  at  your  happy  Araby,  or  the 
Elysian  shades. 

Massinge?'. 

If  by  your  art,  my  dearest  father,  you  have 
Put  the  wild  waves  in  this  roar,  allay  them. 
Had  I  been  any  god  of  power,  I  would 
Have  sunk  the  sea  within  the  earth,  or  e'er 
I  should  the  good  ship  so  have  swallowed,  and 
The  frighting  souls  within  her. 

"  Tempest." 

At  this  point  the  versification  of  Shakspcre  claims 
our  special  attention,  beyond  what  has  already 
been  said  upon  blank  verse  generally  and  dra- 
matic verse  in  particular,  he  being  the  acknow- 
ledged master  of  poetic  art  both  as  regards 
matter  and  form.  His  unrivalled  series  of 
dramas — thirty -seven  in  all — the  pride  of  our 
mother  tongue,  are  not  only  an  inexhaustible 
source  of  pleasure  to  the  successive  generations  of 
English-speaking  people  all  the  world  over,  but 
they  furnish  a  field  of  ever-increasing  interest  and 
enquiry  into  the  methods  of  his  art  and  the 
development  of  his  genius.  The  attempt  to  fix 
the  chronological  order  of  his  plays  has,  of  late 
years,  led  Shaksperean  students  to  pay  special 
attention  to  his  versification,  and  their  united 
labours  have  resulted  in  such  an  arrangement  of 


200  OR  THOME TR  Y. 

his  works  in  the  order  of  their  production,  as 
further  enquiry  will,  in  all  probability,  never 
alter.  If  we  take  a  number  of  passages  from  the 
known  works  of  his  'prentice  hand,  the  early 
comedies,  such,  for  instance,  as  Love's  Labour  s 
Lost,  The  Comedy  of  Errors,  The  Two  Gentle- 
men of  Verona,  and  compare  them  with  selections 
from  the  great  tragedies  of  his  matured  powers, 
like  Hamlet,  Lear,  and  Macbeth,  and  again  with 
others  from  The  Tempest  and  The  Winter  s  Tale, 
creations  of  the  calm  sunset  of  his  life,  a  clearly 
marked  change  will  be  observable  in  the  nature 
and  rhythmic  movement  of  the  verses.  In  the 
first  set  the  numbers  flow  with  a  smoothness 
approaching  the  mon otony  of  rhymed  heroics ;  extra 
syllables  rarely  occur,  the  tenth  usually  has  an 
emphatic  accent,  and  the  pause  comes  regularly  at 
the  end  of  the  line  :  the  verses  zxeend-stopt,  as  they 
have  been  appropriately  called.  In  the  other 
selections  we  shall  find  this  regularity  gradually 
disappearing.  Light  and  weak  endings  and 
extra  syllables  occur  in  increasing  numbers ; 
the  pauses  are,  for  the  most  part,  removed  from 
the  end,  and  find  place  in  any  part  of  the  line, 
even  varying;  the  sense  as  well  as  the  sound  is 
continuous  from  one  line  to  the  next ;  the  verse 
is  run-on,  as  it  is  called,  to  distinguish  it  from  the 
former  kind.  These  marked  characteristics  are 
clearly  discernible  in  the  following  selections  : 

The  more  thou  damm'st  it  up,  the  more  it  burns  ; 
The  current,  that  with  gentle  murmur  glides 


BLANK   VERSE.  2OI 

Thou  know'st,  being  stopped,  impatiently  doth  rage  ; 

But  when  his  fair  course  is  not  hindered, 

He  makes  sweet  music  with  the  enamell'd  stones, 

Giving  a  gentle  kiss  to  every  sedge 

He  overtaketh  in  his  pilgrimage  ; 

And  so,  by  many  winding  nooks  he  strays, 

With  willing  sport  to  the  wild  oce-an. 

"  Two  Gentlemen  of  Verona" 

The  air  is  full  of  noises, 

Sounds,  and  sweet  airs,  that  give  delight  and  hurt  not. 
Sometimes  a  thousand  twanging  instruments 
Will  hum  about  mine  ears ;  and  sometimes  voices, 
That,  if  I  then  had  waked  after  long  sleep, 
Will  make  me  sleep  again  ;  and  then,  in  dreaming, 
The  clouds,  methought,  would  open  and  show  riches 
Ready  to  drop  upon  me  :  that,  when  I  waked, 
I  cried  to  dream  again. 

"  Tempest" 

O  Proserpina, 

For  the  flowers  now  that,  frighted,  thou  lett'st  fall 
From  Dis's  waggon  !  daffodils 
That  come  before  the  swallow  dares,  and  take 
The  winds  of  March  with  beauty  ;  violets  dim, 
But  sweeter  than  the  lids  of  Juno's  eyes, 
Or  Cytherea's  breath  ;  pale  primroses, 
That  die  unmarried  ere  they  can  behold 
Bright  Phoebus  in  his  strength, — a  malady 
Most  incident  to  maids  ;  bold  oxlips,  and 
The  crown  imperial  ;  lilies  of  all  kinds, 
The  flower-de-luce  being  one  ! 

"  Winter s  Tale'' 

The  proportion  of  run-on  to  end-stopt  lines  has 
been  ascertained  by  Mr.  Furnival  to  be  one  in 
eighteen  in  Love's  Labour's  Lost,  and  to  gradually 


202  OR  THOME  TR  Y. 

increase  to  one  in  two  in  Cymbeline  and  The 
Winter  s  Tale.  According  to  Professor  Ingram 
there  is  no  single  light  or  weak  ending  in  the  Two 
Gentlemen  of  Verona  and  The  Comedy  of  Errors, 
and  only  one  in  Midsummer  -  Night*  s  Dream. 
They  begin  to  appear  plentifully  in  Macbeth,  and 
in  the  later  plays  they  amount  to  from  five  to  seven 
per  cent,  of  the  whole  number  of  endings.  Again, 
in  his  early  plays  the  youthful  poet  made  free  use 
of  rhyme,  but  gradually  discarded  it  as  his  skill  in 
"rhythmic  melody  grew.  In  Loves  Labour s  Lost 
there  are  two  rhymed  lines  to  each  one  without ; 
but  in  the  Tempest  there  is  only  one  couplet 
throughout,  and  in  Winter  s  Tale  not  one. 

The  blank  verse  of  Shakspere's  latest  plays,  we 
thus  see,  is  the  result  of  careful  labour  and  ripened 
judgment,  directed  by  an  instinctive  sense  and 
faculty  divine  for  beauty  and  melocty.  His 
choicest  efforts  are  inimitable,  and  remain 
unique  in  our  literature,  for  they  defy  analysis; 
their  beauty  must  be  felt  rather  than  reasoned 
out.  The  clear  sweet  ring  of  his  lyrics  is  perhaps 
equalled  by  some  of  his  contemporaries,  and  nearly 
approached  by  Burns  and  Shelley,  but  the  grace 
and  ever-varying  music  of  his  rhythmic  numbers 
must  be  regarded  as  a  lost  art. 


THE    SONNET. 

THE  sonnet,  being  a  distinct  kind  of  poem,  demands 
separate  treatment,  and  is  therefore  not  dealt  with 
here  as  a  mere  .fourteen-line  stanza.  Besides,  its 
nature  and  construction  are  so  complex,  and  it 
occupies  at  the  present  time  such  an  important 
and  popular  part  in  our  poetic  literature,  that  a 
more  detailed  account  of  its  position  inverse  seems 
desirable. 

The  form  of  the  sonnet  is  of  Italian  origin,  and 
came  into  use  in  the  fifteenth  century,  towards  the 
end  of  which  its  construction  was  perfected,  and  its 
utmost  melodious  sweetness  attained  in  the  verse 
of  Petrarch  and  Dante.  In  the  perfect  Italian 
type  it  consists  of  fourteen  decasyllabic  lines, 
which  are  divided  into  two  unequal  groups  of  efght 
and  six  lines,  the  former  the  octav$*  the  latter 
the  sestet.  The  octave  is  made  up  of  two  quatrains, 
and  the  sestet  of  two  tercets.  The  rhymes  through- 
out are  unequally  blended,  and  in  the  normal  type 
are  rigidly  adhered  to,  their  arrangement  being 
based  upon  well-tested  laws  of  melody.  In  the 
octave  only  two  rhymes  are  admissible,  one  for  the 
first,  fourth,  fifth  and  eighth  lines,  the  other  for 
the  second,  third,  sixth,  and  seventh.  The  tercet 


204  OR  THOME  TR  Y. 

admits  of  three  pairs  of  rhyme,  the  first  and  fourth 
lines,  the  second  and  fifth,  and  the  third  and  sixth. 
This  arrangement  may  be  illustrated  as  follows, 
the  letters  a,  b,  c,  d,  e  representing  the  rhymes  in 
succession  : 

Octave    a,  b,  h,  a — a,  b,  b,  a. 
Sestet        £,  d,  e  — c,  d,  e. 

The  subject  matter  of  the  poem  should  consist 
of  one  idea,  or  one  emotion  elaborately  and  con- 
tinuously wrought  out  throughout,  and  complete 
in  itself.  The  principal  idea  should  be  stated  in 
the  first  quatrain,  and  illustrated  and  elaborated 
in  the  second  ;  then  follows  a  pause.  In  each  of 
the  two  tercets  it  should  be  again  treated  differ- 
ently, and  brought  to  a  close  with  a  dignity  fully 
equal  to  the  opening  note,  combined  with  epigra- 
matic  force. 

The  following  example  is  constructed  on  the  pure 
Petrarchan  model,  and  is  an  ingenious  and  amus- 
ing illustration  of  the  build  of  the  sonnet  itself.  It 
is  an  English  version  of  Lope  de  Vega's  Sonnet  on 
the  Sonnet,  by  Mr.  James  Y.  Gibson  : 

To  write  a  sonnet  doth  Julia  press  me  ; 

I've  never  found  me  in  such  stress  or  pain  ; 

A  sonnet  numbers  fourteen  lines,  'tis  plain, 
And  three  are  gone  ere  I  can  say,  God  bless  me  ! 

I  thought  that  spinning  lines  would  sore  oppress  me, 
Yet  here  I'm  midway  in  the  last  quatrain  : 
And  if  the  foremost  tercet  I  begin, 

The  quatrains  need  not  any  more  distress  me. 


THE   SONNET.  205 

To  the  first  tercet  I  have  got  at  last, 

And  travel  through  it  with  such  right  goodwill, 
That  with  this  line  I've  finished  it,  I  ween  : 

I'm  in  the  second  now,  and  see  how  fast 

The  thirteenth  line  comes  tripping  from  my  quill  : 
Hurrah  !  'tis  done  !     Count  if  there  be  fourteen. 

It  was  during  the  early  jpart  of  the  sixteenth 
century  that  the  Earl"  of  Surrey  and  Sir  Thomas 
Wyatt,  who  had  imbibed  a  taste  for  the  glowing 
poetry  of  Italy  during  residence  there,  first  at- 
tempted the  sonnet  structure  in  English  verse. 
They  found  the  difficulty  of  transplanting  this 
choice  exotic  from  the  musical  Italian  tongue  into 
the  comparatively  rough  and  rhymeless  English 
so  great,  that  many  liberties  had  to  be  taken  with 
it  before  it  could  be  well  adapted  to  the  sterner 
English  soil.  Spenser,  Sir  Philip  Sidney, 
Drayton,  and  others  experimented  with  the  new 
toy,  and  introduced  a  variety  of  changes  in  the 
arrangement  of  the  rhymes,  carrying  the  same 
jingle  from  the  octave  into  the  sestet,  thus  abolish- 
ing the  central  pause,  and  they  closed  the  poem 
with  a  couplet.  Out  of  these  attempts  to  acclima- 
tise the  stranger  to  the  altered  conditions  of  our 
speech — attempts  which  demonstrated  the  necessity 
of  freedom  from  the  flowery  chains  of  Italian 
tyranny — grew  the  English  sonnet y  for  which  some 
writers  have  claimed  an  indigenous  production. 

In  the  following  example  from  Spenser,  note 
that  three  rhymes  are  admitted  into  the  quatrain, 
the  last  of  which  is  carried  into  the  first  tercet, 
and  that  the  poem  ends  with  a  couplet : 


2  06  OR  THOME  TR  \ r. 

Like  as  the  culver  on  the  bared  bough 

Sits  musing  for  the  absence  of  her  mate, 
And  in  her  songs  sends  many  a  wishful  vow 

For  his  return  that  seems  to  linger  late  : 
So  I  alone,  now  left  disconsolate, 

Moan  to  myself  the  absence  of  my  Love, 
And,  wandering  here  and  there  all  desolate, 

Seek  with  my  plaints  to  match  that  mournful  dove; 
Ne  joy  of  ought  that  under  heaven  doth  hove, 

Can  comfort  me,  but  her  own  joyous  sight ; 
Whose  sweet  aspect  both  God  and  man  can  move, 

In  her  unspotted  pleasance  to  delight. 
Day  by  day,  whiles  her  fair  light  I  miss, 
And  dead  my  life  that  wants  such  lively  bliss. 

Spenser. 

In  the  next  example,  entitled  Sleepy  by  Daniel, 
it  will  be  noticed  that  six  rhymes  are  admitted, 
the  last  two  forming  a  couplet,  though  the  break 
between  the  two  halves  is  observed : 

Care-charmer  Sleep,  son  of  the  sable  Night, 

Brother  to  Death,  in  silent  darkness  born, 
Relieve  my  languish,  and  restore  the  light ; 

With  dark  forgetting  of  my  care  return, 
And  let  the  day  be  time  enough  to  mou^i 

The  shipwreck  of  my  ill-adventured  youth. 
Let  waking  eyes  suffice  to  wail  their  scorn 

Without  the  torments  of  night's  untruth. 
Cease,  dreams,  the  images  of  day's  desires, 

To  model  forth  the  passions  of  the  morrow  ; 
Never  let  the  rising  sun  approve  you  liars, 

To  add  more  grief  to  aggravate  my  sorrow. 
Still  let  me  sleep  embracing  clouds  in  vain, 
And  never  wake  to  feel  the  day's  disdain. 

Daniel. 

The  following,  from  Drayton,  in  the  exact  model 


777^  SONNET.  207 

of  the  Shaksperian  sonnet,  is  worthy  of  quotation, 
not  only  for  its  intrinsic  beauty,  but  as  illustrating 
the  early  development  of  the  English  form  : 

Since  there's  no  help,  come  let  us  kiss  and  part ; 
Nay,  I  have  done,  you  get  no  more  of  me  ; 

And  1  am  glad,  yes,  glad  with  all  my  heart,  **', 

That  thus,  so  clearly,  I  myself  can  free. 

Shake  hands  for  ever — cancel  all  our  vows—- 
And when  we  meet  at  any  time  again, 

Be  it  not  seen  in  either  of  our  brows, 
That  we  one  jot  of  former  love  retain. 

Now  at  the  last  gasp  of  Love's  latest  breath, 
When,  his  pulse  failing,  Passion  speechless  lies,    <f- 

When  Faith  is  kneeling  by  his  bed  of  death, 
And  Innocence  is  closing  up  his  eyes, 

Now,  if  thou  wouldst,  when  all  have  given  him  over, 

From  death  to  life  thou  might' st  him  yet  recover. 

In  the  hands  of  Shakspere  the  sonnet  became  the 
vehicle  of  poetic  expression,  differing  in  almost 
every  respect  from  the  Italian  type.  While  con- 
sisting of  fourteen  lines  only,  and  maintaining  the 
principle  of  unity  of  thought,  the  distinction  of 
quatrain  and  sestet  is  altogether  ignored,  and  the 
arrangement  of  the  rhymes  is  entirely  different. 
The  Shaksperian  sonnet  is  made  up  of  three  deca- 
syllabic quatrains,  rhyming  alternately,  followed 
and  concluded  by  a  couplet ;  thus  : 

ace 
b  d  f  g 

a  c  e  g 

b  d  f 

However  critics  may  differ  as  to  the  superior 
melodic  sweetness  of  the  pure  Italian  form,  there 


2  O  8  OR  THOME  TR  Y. 

can  be  no  question  that  this  poetic  gem,  in  the 
hands  of  our  great  master,  was  wrought  into  a 
degree  of  perfection  that  has  never  been  surpassed 
in  our  own  or  any  other  tongue.  There  is  an 
abiding  interest  in  the  one  hundred  and  fifty-four 
short  poems  of  this  kind  that  Shakspere  wrote, 
which  is  ever  attracting  the  fancy  and  ingenuity  of 
new  students  of  his  genius,  inasmuch  as  it  is 
generally  admitted  that  they  embody  the  real 
feelings  and  experiences  of  the  man  himself;  that 
in  them  he  lays  bare  the  joys  and  sorrows  and 
inner  workings  of  his  own  marvellous  personality.* 

*  Shakspere's  Sonnets  were  published  in  1609  by  T.  T.  (Thomas 
Thorpe)  and,  like  the  plays  that  were  published  in  4to  during  his  life- 
time, without  the  poet's  knowledge.  The  Dedication  of  them  runs  "To 
the  only  begetter  of  these  ensuing  Sonnets,  Mr.  W.  H."  Who  this  W.  H. 
was  has  given  rise  to  many  conjectures,  and  to  much  ingenious  special 
pleading,  but  the  truth  will  probably  never  be  known  with  certainty. 
The  most  plausible  conjectures  are  that  the  initials  stand  for  (i)  Henry 
Wriothesley,  Earl  of  Southampton,  the  poet's  junior  by  nine  years,  who 
is  known  to  have  been  his  early  patron,  and  to  whom  he  dedicated  Venus 
and  Adonis  and  The  Rape  of  Lucrece;  and  (2)  William  Herbert,  Earl  of 
Pembroke,  to  whom  Heminge  and  Condell  dedicated  the  first  folio  in 
1623. 

It  is  obviously  impossible  to  discriminate  to  what  extent  the  deeper 
utterances  of  a  poet  are  purely  subjective,  or  are  the  outcome  of  his 
objective  experience.  The  sustained,  passionate  depth  of  emotion,  how- 
ever, that  is  clearly  perceptible  throughout  the  sonnets,  lead  almost  con- 
clusively to  the  belief  that  they  embody  the  poet's  own  feelings,  and 
portray,  though  dimly,  a  series  of  real  occurrences.  Mr.  Archibald 
Brown's  hypothesis  as  to  the  story  they  tell,  modified  by  Professor 
Dowden,  seems  the  most  natural  and  reasonable  one  that  has  been 
suggested,  and  is  in  accordance  with  the  later  developments  of  the  poet's 
genius.  It  is  to  the  effect  that  Sonnets  i  to  127  were  addressed  to  a 
young  man,  and  that  the  rest  were  written  to,  or  about,  a  "  dark  lady," 
imperious,  gifted,  and  fascinating,  but  unfaithful,  who  was  for  a  time 
Shakspere's  mistress.  The  young  friend  had  wealth,  rank,  great  beauty 
of  person  and  mind,  and  the  poet  entertained  for  him  an  inordinate 
affection.  They  gradually  became  estranged,  however;  the  younger  suc- 
cumbs to  the  seductions  of  the  dark  lady,  and  this  double  faithlessness 
plunges  the  poet  into  profound  darkness  and  sorrow.  The  bitterness, 
however,  in  time  passes  out  of  his  heart,  the  friends  become  reconciled 
and  bound  together  by  a  love  that  is  now  purged  from  all  earthly  dross. 

An  attempt  has  been  made  of  late  to  identify  this  mysterious  lady  as 
Mary  Fitton,  of  Gawsworth,  Cheshire,  at  one  time  maid  of  honour  to 
Queen  Elizabeth. 


THE  SONNET.  2 09 

This  innate  attraction,  however,  is  altogether  apart 
from  the  illustration  of  metrical  laws  with  which 
we  are  concerned,  though  it  furnishes  an  instance 
— if  instances  were  required — of  the  fascination  of 
the  materials  with  which  we  are  dealing.  Here 
follow  two  choice  specimens  of  his  work,  the  latter 
of  which  is  regarded  by  many  as  the  finest  sonnet 
ever  written  : 

When  to  the  sessions  of  sweet  silent  thought 

I  summon  up  remembrance  of  things  past, 
I  sigh  the  lack  of  many  a  thing  I  sought, 

And  with  old  woes  new  wail  my  dear  time's  waste. 
Then  can  I  drown  an  eye,  unused  to  flow, 

For  precious  friends  hid  in  death's  dateless  night, 
And  weep  afresh  love's  long-since-cancelled  woe, 

And  moan  the  expense  of  many  a  vanished  sight. 
Then  can  I  grieve  at  grievances  foregone, 

And  heavily  from  woe  to  woe  tell  o'er 
The  sad  account  of  fore-bemoaned  moan, 

Which  I  new  pay  as  if  not  paid  before. 
But  if  the  while  I  think  on  thee,  dear  friend, 
All  losses  are  restored  and  sorrows  end. 

Shakspere  (39). 

The  expense  of  spirit  in  a  waste  of  shame 

Is  lust  in  action  ;  and  till  action,  lust 
Is  perjured,  murderous,  bloody,  full  of  blame, 

Savage,  extreme,  rude,  cruel,  not  to  trust ; 
Enjoyed  no  sooner  but  despised  straight ; 

Past  reason  hunted  ;  and  no  sooner  had, 
Past  reason  hated,  as  a  swallowed  bait 

On  purpose  laid  to  make  the  taker  mad  : 
Mad  in  pursuit,  and  in  possession  so  ; 

Had,  having,  and  in  quest  to  have,  extreme  ; 
A  bliss,  in  proof,  and  proved,  a  very  woe  ; 

Before,  a  joy  proposed  ;  behind,  a  dream. 

p 


210  OR  THOMETR  Y. 

All  this  the  world  knows  well ;  yet  none  knows  well 
To  shun  the  heaven  that  leads  men  to  this  hell. 

Shakspere  (129). 

In  his  use  of  the  sonnet  form  Milton  departed  alto- 
gether from  the  Shaksperian  model,  and  reverted 
to  the  Italian  type.  He  was  well  read  in  the  litera- 
ture of  Italy,  and,  recognising  the  melodious 
beauty  of  the  sonnets  of  Petrarch  and  Dante,  he 
adopted  their  arrangement  of  the  rhymes  in  the 
quatrain,  while  varying  it  slightly  in  the  sestet. 
He  also  departed  from  the  archetype  by  allowing 
no  break  in  the  melody  between  the  two  halves  of 
the  poem,  which  gives  to  his  productions  a  majestic 
sonority  pre-eminently  grand.  In  the  two  fine 
examples  quoted  below  the  rhymes  of  the  sestet 
in  the  first  vary  from  the  original  cy  dy  e  ;  c,  d,  ey 
being  arranged  c,  d ;  c,  d ;  c,  d. 

ON  i  THE    LATE    MASSACRE    IN    PIEDMONT. 

Avenge,  6  Lord,  thy  slaughtered  saints,  whose  bones     v* 

Lie  scattered  on  the  Alpine  mountains  cold  ; 

Even  those  who  kept  thy  truth  so  pure  of  old, 
When  all  our  fathers  worshipped  stocks  and  stones, 
Forget  not  :  in  thy  book  record  their  groans, 

Who  were  thy  sheep,  and  in  their  ancient  fold 

Slain  by  the  bloody  Piedmontesc,  -who  rolled 
Mother  with  infant  down  the  rocks.     Their  moans 
The  vales  redoubled  to  the  hills,  and  they 

To  heaven.     Their  martyred  blood  and  ashes  sow 
O'er  all  the  Italian  fields,  where  still  doth  sway 

The  triple  Tyrant ;  that  from  there  may  grow 
A  hundredfold,  who  having  learnt  thy  way, 

Early  may  fly  the  Babylonian  woe. 

Milton. 


When 


THE  SONNET.  211 


I  ON  HIS   BLINDNESS. 

I  consider  how  my  light  is  spent 
Kre  half  my  days  in  this  dark  world  and  wide, 
Arid  that  one  talent,  which  is  death  to  hide, 
Lo~dged  with  me  useless,  though  rrfy  soul  more  bent 
To  serve  therewith  my  Maker,  and  present 
My  true  account  lest  He,  returning,  chide  : 
"  Doth  God  exact  day  labour,  light  denied  ?" 
I  fondly  ask.     But  patience,  to  prevent 
That  murmur,  soon  replies  :  God  doth  not  need 

Either  man's  work  or  His  own  gifts.     Who  best 
Bear  his  mild  yoke,  they  serve  Him  best.     His  state 

Is  kingly.     Thousands  at  His  bidding  speed 
And  post  o'er  land  and  ocean  without  rest : — 
They  also  serve  who  only  stand  and  wait. 

Milton. 


After  Milton's  time  the  sonnet  was  scarcely 
cultivated  at  all  by  our  poets  for  upwards  of  a 
hundred  years,  till,  early  in  the  present  century, 
Wordsworth  revived  its  flickering  flame,  and  caused 
it  to  break  forth  again  with  a  new  beauty  and  sweet- 
ness peculiarly  his  own.  The  taste  and  love  that  he 
enkindled  throughout  the  English-speaking  world 
for  this  artistic  poetic  gem  has  never  since  waned, 
and  it  is  hardly  too  much  to  say  that  the  sonnet  is 
more  sedulously  cultivated  at  the  present  day  than 
any  other  poetic  form.  The  productions  of  our 
modern  poets  conform  in  the  main  to  the  Italian  type 
as  regards  the  structure  of  the  octave,  but  a  variable 
arrangement  of  the  rhymes  is  adopted  in  the  sestet. 
Since  Wordsworth,  Dante  G.  Rossetti,  and  Mrs. 
Browning  may  with  confidence  be  mentioned  as 


212  OR  THOME  TR  Y, 

the  most  successful  contributors  to  our  wondrously 
rich  store  of  sonnet  literature. 

A  few    modern  specimens  of   great  beauty  are 
added  to  complete  the  sketch  of  the  subject. 

ON    THE   SONNET. 

Nuns  fret  not  at  their  convent's  narrow  room  ; 

And  hermits  are  contented  with  their  cells  ; 

And  students  with  their  pensive  citadels  ; 
Maids  at  the  wheel,  the  weaver  at  his  loom, 
Sit  blithe  and  happy ;  bees  that  soar  for  bloom 

High  as  the  highest  peak  of  Furness  fells, 

Will  murmur  by  the  hour  in  fox-glove  bells  : 
In  truth  the  prison  unto  which  we  doom 
Ourselves,  no  prison  is  ;  and  hence  for  me 

In  sundry  moods,  'tis  pastime  to  be  bound 

Within  the  sonnet's  scanty  plot  of  ground  ; 
Pleased  if  some  souls  (for  such  there  needs  must  be) 
Who  have  felt  the  weight  of  too  much  liberty, 

Should  find  brief  solace  there  as  I  have  found. 

Wordsworth* 

The  world  is  too  much  with  us,  late  and  soon, 

Getting  and  spending,  we  lay  waste  our  powers  : 

Little  we  see  in  Nature  that  is  ours ; 
We  have  given  our  hearts  away,  a  sordid  boon  ! 
The  sea  that  bares  her  bosom  to  the  moon, 

The  winds  that  will  be  howling  at  all  hours, 

And  are  up-gathered  now  like  sleeping  flowers  ; 
For  this,  for  everything  we  are  out  of  tune  ; 
It  moves  us  not. — Great  God  !  I'd  rather  be 

A  pagan  suckled  in  a  creed  outworn  ; 
So  might  I,  standing  on  this  pleasant  lea 

Have  glimpses  that  would  make  me  less  forlorn  ; 
Have  sight  of  Proteus  rising  from  the  sea  ; 

Or  hear  old  Triton  blow  his  wreathed  horn. 

Wordsworth. 


THE  SONNET.  2  I  3 

NIGHT  AND  DEATH. 

Mysterious  Night  !  when  our  first  parent  knew 

Thee  from  report  divine,  and  heard  thy  name, 

Did  he  not  tremble  for  this  lovely  frame, 
This  glorious  canopy  of  white  and  blue  ? 
Yet  'neath  a  curtain  of  translucent  dew, 

Bathed  in  the  rays  of  the  great  setting  flame, 

Hesperus  with  the  host  of  heaven  came, 
And  lo  !  Creation  widened,  widened  in  man's  view, 
Who  could  have  thought  such  darkness  lay  concealed 

Within  thy  beams,  O  Sun  !  or  who  could  find 
Whilst  fly  and  leaf  and  insect  stood  revealed, 

That  to  such  countless  orbs  thou  mad'st  us  blind  ! 
Why  do  we  then  shun  Death  with  anxious  strife  ? 
If  Light  can  thus  deceive,  wherefore  not  Life  ? 

J.  Blanco  White. 

Note,  in  the  following  example,  which  forms  the 
introduction  to  the  Prisoner  of  Chillon,  a  third 
rhyme  is  introduced  into  the  octave. 

CHILLON. 

Eternal  spirit  of  the  chainless  mind  ! 

Brightest  in  dungeons,  Liberty  !  thou  art, 

For  there  thy  habitation  is  the  heart— 
The  heart  which  love  of  thee  alone  can  bind  ; 
And  when  thy  sons  to  fetters  are  consigned — 

To  fetters  and  the  damp  vaults'  dayless  gloom,    «* 

Their  country  conquers  with  their  martyrdom, 
And  Freedom's  fame  finds  wings  on  every  wind. 
Chillon  !  thy  prison  is  a  holy  place, 

And  thy  sad  floor  an  altar,  for  'twas  trod, 
Until  his  very  steps  have  left  a  trace 

Worn,  as  if  thy  cold  pavement  were  a  sod, 
By  Bonnivard  !  May  none  those  marks  efface  ! 

For  they  appeal  from  tyranny  to  God. 

jByron. 


214  OR  THOME  TR  Y. 

SUBSTITUTION. 

Vy 

Where  some  beloved  voice  that  was  to  you 

Both  sound  and  sweetness,  fadeth  suddenly, 

And  silence  against  which  you  dare  not  cry, 
Aches  round  you  like  a  strong  disease  and  new-*- 
What  hope  ?  What  help  ?  What  music  will  undo 

That  silence  to  your  sense  ?  Not  friendship's  sigh, 

Not  reason's  subtle  count,  not  melody 
Of  violo,  nor  of  pipes  that  Faunus  blew  ; 
Not  songs  of  poets,  nor  of  nightingales 

Whose  hearts  leap  upward  through  the  Cypress-trees 
To  the  clear  moon  ;  nor  yet  the  spheric  laws 

Self-chanted,  nor  the  angels'  sweet  All  hails 
Met  in  the  smile  of  God  :  Nay,  none  of  these. 

Speak  Thou,  availing  Christ  !  and  fill  this  pause. 

Mrs.  Browning. 

LOST  DAYS. 

The  lost  days  of  my  life  until  to-day, 

What  are  they,  could  I  see  them  on  the  street 

Lie  as  they  fell  ?  would  they  be  ears  of  wheat 
Sown  once  for  good  but  trodden  into  clay  ? 
Or  golden  coins  squandered  and  still  to  pay  ? 

Or  drops  of  blood  dabbling  the  guilty  feet  ? 

Or  such  spilt  water  as  in  dreams  must  cheat 
The  undying  throats  of  Hell,  athirst  alway  ? 
I  do  not  see  them  here  ;  but  after  death 

God  knows  I  know  the  faces  I  shall  see, 
Each  one  a  murdered  self,  with  low  last  breath. 

"  I  am  thyself — what  hast  thou  done  to  me  ?" 
"  And  I— and  I— thyself,"  (lo  !  each  one  saith,) 

''And  thou  thyself  to  all  eternity." 

D.  G.  Rossetti. 

The  last  two  examples  are  extremely  irregular ; 
by  many  they  would  not  be  considered  sonnets  at 


THE  SONNET.  215 

all.  As  a  piece  of  versification  the  one  by  Shelley 
is  simply  a  stanza  of  fourteen  heroics,  rhyming 
alternately,  with  one  couplet  introduced.  The  last 
one  is  appended  more  as  a  literary  curiosity,  an 
experiment  in  monosyllables. 


TO    WORDSWORTH. 

Poet  of  Nature,  thou  hast  wept  to  know 

That  things  depart  which  never  may  return  : 
Childhood  and  youth,  friendship,  and  love's  first  glow,    1 

Have  fled  like  sweet  dreams,  leaving  thee  to  mourn.  * 
These  common  woes  I  feel.     One  loss  is  mine, 

Which  thou  too  feel'st,  yet  I  alone  deplore, 
Thou  wert  as  a  lone  star  whose  light  did  shine 

On  some  frail  bark  in  winter's  midnight  roar : 
Thou  hast  like  to  a  rock-built  refuge  stood 
Above  the  blind  and  battling  multitude  : 
In  honoured  poverty  thy  voice  did  weave 

Songs  consecrate  to  truth  and  liberty. 
Deserting  these,  thou  leavest  me  to  grieve, 

Thus,  having  been,  that  thou  shouldst  cease  to  be. 


MONOSYLLABIC    SONNET. 

Think  not  that  strength  lies  in  the  big  round  word, 

Or  that  the  brief  and  plain  must  needs  be  weak. 
For  whom  can  this  be  true  who  once  has  heard 

The  cry  for  help,  the  tongue  that  all  men  speak 
When  want,  or  woe,  or  fear  is  in  the  throat, 

So  that  each  word  gasped  out  is  like  a  shriek 
Pressed  from  the  sore  heart  :  or  a  strange,  wild  note 

Sung  by  some  fay  or  fiend  !     There  is  a  strength 
Which  dies  if  stretched  too  far,  or  spun  too  fine  ; 

Which  has  more  height  than  breadth,  more  depth  than 
length. 


2l6  ORTHOMETRY. 

Let  but  this  force  of  thought  and  speech  be  mine, 
And  he  that  will  may  take  the  sleek,  fat  phrase, 

That  glows  but  burns  not,  though  it  beam  and  shine, 
Light,  but  no  heat,  a  flash,  but  not  a  flame.* 

*  The  student  who  may  desire  to  enter  more  fully  into  this  interesting 
corner  of  poetic  literature  will  find  delight  and  instruction  in  the  following 
works  : 

"  A  Treasury  of  English  Sonnets,"  by  David  M.  Main  (Alexander 
Ireland  &  Co.,  Manchester,  1880).  This  is  the  most  complete  collection 
of  English  Sonnets  yet  published,  and  is  accompanied  by  critical  notes 
and  extracts  of  an  exhaustive  and  scholarly  character. 

"  Sonnets  of  this  Century,"  with  a  critical  introduction  by  William 
Sharp,  being  one  of  the  volumes  of  the  Canterbury  Poets.  (Walter 
Scott.  London.  1888.) 


THE   SONG. 

PERHAPS  the  most  popular  of  all  forms  of  vers'e  is 
the  song,  and  it  is  easy  to  understand  why  this  is 
so.  The  sentiment  embodied  in  a  song  is  simple, 
direct,  and  lies  on  the  surface  of  our  common 
nature.  Love,  patriotism,  the  blended  associations 
of  natural  beauty  with  human  feelings,  the 
buoyant  life  and  dangers  of  the  deep, — these,  and 
such-like  materials  of  song,  are  topics  that  attract 
the  fancy,  and  appeal  to  the  hearts  of  all.  Again, 
the  song,  if  it  is  a  good  one,  is  short,  its  rhythm 
smooth  and  exact,  its  rhymes  ring  out  clear,  its 
words  are  simple  and  natural,  and,  moreover,  it  is 
generally  wedded  to  a  melody  which  lingers  in  the 
ear  long  after  the  sounds  have  died  away.  It 
makes  no  appeal  to  the  intellect,  but  it  stimulates 
the  sensuousness  of  our  nature,  and  thrills  into  life 
the  dormant  phantoms  of  memory. 

It  does  not  flavour  of  the  "  superior  person  "  to 
say  that  the  bulk  of  human  kind  do  not  possess 
cultivated  artistic  tastes  :  a  sonnet  of  Shakspere's 
or  a  fugue  by  Bach  would  doubtless  fall  flat  on  the 
general  ear,  while  a  simple  ballad  or  a  pathetic 
song  rarely  fails  to  touch  a  sympathetic  chord,  or 
moisten  the  eye  of  the  most  apathetic  listener. 


2  1 8  OR  THOME  TR  Y. 

Who  has  not  witnessed  the  almost  electrical  effect 
of  The  Marseillaise,  Rule  Britannia,  and  the 
Wearing  of  the  Green  upon  gatherings  of  the 
different  nationalities  ! 

Song-writing,  that  to  the  uninitiated  may  seem 
an  easy  literary  effort,  is,  indeed,  one  of  the  most 
difficult  forms  of  metrical  composition  to  accom- 
plish satisfactorily.  Some  of  our  most  eminent 
poets  have  failed  in  it  entirely,  and  others  have 
wisely  refrained  from  attempting  it.  Milton,  Pope, 
and  Wordsworth  may  be  cited  as  proofs  of  this 
assertion. 

A  song  should  embody  some  common  human 
sentiment,  which  should  meander  through  its 
verses  and  bind  them  together  like  a  silken 
cord.  The  metre  should  be  carefully  selected,  and 
smoothed  into  regularity,  with  a  view  to  its 
musical  setting;  and  if  it  be  written  to  an  air 
already  composed,  much  ingenuity  and  taste  are 
required  in  arranging  the  accents  to  the  beats,  the 
open  vowel  sounds  to  the  long  notes.  As  it  is 
intended  for  singing  rather  than  recitation,  it  should 
be  built  up  of  words  having  as  many  open  vowels 
and  as  few  guttural  and  hissing  consonants  as 
possible.  The  utterance  of  musical  sounds 
requires  an  open  mouth,  so  that  however  beautiful 
the  thought  and  dress  of  a  line  of  poetry  may  be, 
if  the  sounds  of  its  words  keep  the  mouth  closed, 
it  is  unsuitable  to  vocalisation.  An  instance  of  this 
may  be  taken  from  Shelley,  whose  exquisite  taste 
in  sensuous  poetry  is  unrivalled  : 


THE   SONG.  2IQ 

I  love  that  thou  lovest, 

Spirit  of  delight ! 

The  fresh  earth  in  new  leaves  drest, 

And  the  starry  night. 

Here  the  third  line  of  the  stanza  is  a  beautiful 
poetical  image ;  but  it  is  next  to  impossible  to 
vocalise  it,  as  nearly  every  word  shuts  the  mouth 
in  utterance.  On  the  other  hand,  Burns  may  be 
singled  out  as  supreme  as  a  song- writer  ;  the  firm- 
ness of  his  rhythm  and  the  musical  flow  of  his 
numbers  have  never  been  surpassed.  And,  besides, 
his  happy  selection  of  open-vowelled  words  recom- 
mends his  compositions  for  vocal  purposes.  Such 
lines  as : 

Ye  banks  and  braes  o'  bonny  Doon, 
How  can  ye  bloom  sae  fresh  and  fair  ? 

open  the  mouth  as  Italian  words  would. 

The  following  remarks  of  Samuel  Lover,  himself 
no  mean  writer  of  tender  and  humorous  songs, 
may  be  reproduced  here  : — "  To  awaken  sympathy 
by  the  simplest  words  will  go  farther  in  a  song 
than  pomp  of  language  and  elaborate  polish.  But 
simplicity  should  never  descend  into  baldness,  or 
the  stringing  of  nonsensical  rhymes  together.  A 
song  should  have  a  thought  in  it,  and  that  thought 
gracefully  expressed  at  least;  and  if  the  tone  of 
expression  touch  the  head  or  the  heart  of  the 
listener — appeal  either  to  his  fancy  or  his  feeling — 
it  has  in  it,  I  believe,  the  germ  of  success.  If  you 
preach  too  much,  or  philosophise  too  much,  or  if 


220  OR  THOME  TR  Y. 

passion,  like  the  queen  in  the  play  in  Hamlet, 
'  doth  protest  too  much/  the  chances  are  the  song 
is  overdone.  The  feelings  you  want  to  excite  in  a 
song  should  be  rather  suggested  than  ostentatiously 
.  paraded,  and  in  proportion  as  this  is  skilfully  done, 
the  song,  I  believe,  proves  successful." 

It  has  been  said  that  the  songs  of  a  nation  are  as 
potent  as  its  laws,  and  doubtless  there  is  no  little 
truth  in  the  saying. 

How  small  of  all  that  human  hearts  endure, 
That  part  which  kings  or  laws  can  cause  or  cure  ! 

Laws  become  obsolete  and  are  abrogated,  but  the 
passionate  words  of  a  song  that  embody  national 
sentiments,  or  have  touched  the  nation's  heart, 
pass  into  its  "household  words,"  and  live  on  for 
ever. 

The  seasons  change,  the  winds  they  shift  and  veer  ; 

The  grass  of  yester-year 

Is  dead  ;  the  birds  depart,  the  groves  decay  ; 

Empires  dissolve,  and  peoples  disappear  ; 

Songs  pass  not  away. 

Thackeray  has  said  that  Gray,  the  writer  of  the 
well-known  Elegy,  passed  on  to  immortality  with 
the  thinnest  volume  under  his  arm  of  any  English 
author.  This  truth  might  well  be  extended  still 
further,  to  the  effect  that  some  few  of  our  humblest 
bards  have  been  admitted  amongst  the  "  Im- 
mortals "  upon  the  strength  of  one  or  two  songs 
only,  inscribed  upon  a  single  sheet  of  paper.  And 
upon  an  eminence  scarcely  lower  than  the  national 


THE   SOXC.  221 

songwright  is  he  whose  simple  words  and  preg- 
nant thoughts  have  embodied  the  universal  joys, 
sorrows,  and  aspirations  of  the  human  heart  in 
strains  that,  once  heard,  can  never  be  forgotten. 
Nor,  indeed,  is  it  a  small  thing  to  charm  with  song 
the  social  circle;  to  excite,  soothe,  and  thrill  the 
jaded  heart  and  soul ;  to  enliven  and  keep  sweet 
the  home-life  when  the  day's  work  is  done,  and  to 
make 

The  night  to  be  filled  with  music, 
And  the  cares  that  infest  the  day 

To  fold  their  tents  like  the  Arabs, 
And  as  silently  steal  away. 

To  attempt  to  enumerate  our  song-writers,  and 
present  choice  and  representative  specimens  of 
their  lyric  art,  greatly  as  it  might  enhance  the 
charm  of  this  volume  to  the  general  reader,  would 
extend  it  beyond  the  limits  of  our  main  object, 
which  is  didactic.  Besides,  this  has  been  already 
accomplished  by  several  competent  hands,  and 
Anthologies  of  our  lyric  muse  are  both  numerous 
and  exhaustive.  It  will  be  sufficient,  therefore,  for 
our  purpose  to  point  out  the  chief  varieties  of 
songs,  and  the  characteristics  of  each  kind,  with 
brief  allusions  to  some  of  the  best  specimens. 


i.— THE  SACRED  SONG  OR  HYMN. 

"A  good  hymn  should  have  simplicity,  fresh- 
ness, and  reality  of  feeling,  a  consistent  elevation 
of  tone,  and  a  rhythm  easy  and  harmonious,  but 


222  OR  THOME  TR  Y. 

not  jingling  or  trivial.  Its  language  may  be 
homely,  but  should  not  be  slovenly  or  mean. 
Affectation  or  visible  artifice  is  worse  than  excess 
of  homeliness  ;  a  hymn  is  easily  spoiled  by  a  single 
falsetto  note.  Nor  will  most  exemplary  sound- 
ness of  doctrine  atone  for  doggerel,  or  redeem 
from  failure  a  prosaic  didactic  style."  These 
words  of  Lord  Selborne's  express  nearly  all  that 
can  be  said  as  to  the  requirements  of  sacred 
song,  while  his  collection  of  the  best  specimens 
may  with  safety  be  regarded  as  embracing  the 
choicest  expression  of  the  crystallized  piety  of  the 
English  race.* 


2.— THE  PATRIOTIC  AND  WAR  SONG. 

These  partake  of  the  nature  of  fiery  eloquence 
and  impassioned  declamation.  Like  the  harangues 
of  Henry  V.  at  Harfleur  and  at  Agincourt,  they  are 
framed  to  arouse  the  heroic  in  man,  and  nerve  him 
to  deeds  of  daring  and  endurance.  Their  ringing 
accents  stir  the  heart  like  the  sounds  of  a  trumpet 
or  the  weird  shrill  shriek  of  the  pibroch.  Forti- 
tude, glory,  death  rather  than  dishonour,  love  of 
home  and  freedom— these  and  such-like  sentiments, 
clothed  in  stirring  words,  enkindle  the  warrior  to 
deeds  of  devotion  in  defence  of  "  the  ashes  of  his 
fathers,  the  temples  of  his  gods."  The  narrative 
element  is  very  frequently  introduced  into  songs  of 

*  "  The  Book  of  Praise,"  selected  and  arranged  by  Lord  Selborne. 
(Macmillan  &  Co.) 


THE   SONG.  223 

this  kind,  and  turns  them  into  glowing  pictures  of 
battle  and  triumphant  victory.  And  when  some 
famous  phrase  is  hit  upon  as  a  refrain,  like  "  Rule 
Britannia,"  "  Hearts  of  Oak,"  or"  England  expects 
every  man  this  day  to  do  his  duty,"  the  enthusiasm 
they  arouse  leaves  nothing  to  be  desired.  All 
nations  have  their  national  songs,  wedded  to 
grand  melodies;  and  England,  the  cradle  of 
liberty,  the  mistress  of  the  sea,  the  pioneer  of 
progress,  has  reason  to  be  proud  of  its  own 
patriotic  music.  GoS  save  the  Queen,  Rule 
Britannia,  The  Dcatli  of  Nelson,  and  Scots  wha  hae, 
&c.,  may  be  cited  as  typical  examples. 

Dibdiris  Sea  Songs  call  for  special  mention  here. 
Of  the  twelve  hundred  he  is  said  to  have  written, 
the  majority  are  already  forgotten,  but  many  of 
them  that  remain  will  endure  as  long  as  our  tongue 
is  spoken.  With  little  pretension  to  literary  merit, 
they  all  have  the  genuine  sniff  of  the  briny  about 
them,  and  they  depict  the  joys  and  sorrows  of  Poor 
Jack,  the  hearty,  simple-minded  tar  as  we  love 
to  regard  him.  At  a  critical  time  in  our  history 
his  songs  are  said  to  have  recruited  our  Navy 
with  volunteers,  and  to  have  rendered  the  odious 
press-gang  unnecessary.  In  every  forecastle 
over  the  broad  ocean  his  "  Sweet  little  cherub 
that  sits  up  aloft,"  is  still  invoked  by  Jack, 
and  even  the  "  Gentlemen  who  live  at  home  at 
ease "  are  ever  hushed  into  appreciative  silence 
when  they  hear  sung  the  virtues  of  Poor  Torn 
Bowling. 


224  OR  THOME  TRY. 

3.— THE  LOVE  SONG. 

The  lyric  muse  seems  peculiarly  adapted  to  give 
expression  to  the  manifold  phases  of  the  tender 
flame,  and  the  jingling  of  rhymes  fitly  harmonises 
with  its  wayward  fancies.  The  common  feelings 
of  our  nature,  of  which  the  love  of  the  sexes  is 
predominant,  are  reproduced  in  every  son  and 
daughter  of  Eve,  and  it  is  marvellous  to  contem- 
plate the  infinite  variety  of  expression  in  which  it 
has  been  clothed  in  all  countries  and  in  all  times  ; 
and  yet  we  are  ever  eager  to  welcome  every  fresh 
wreath  that  is  laid  upon  the  shrine  of  "all 
conquering  Eros."  In  our  own  tongue  the  tender- 
ness, the  glow  and  grace  of  the  love  lyrics  of 
our  Elizabethan  poets  can  never  be  surpassed, 
and  it  would  be  invidious  to  particularise  names 
and  examples  in  a  slight  notice  of  this  kind. 
Amongst  modern  poets  Burns,  Moore,  and  the 
Brownings  may,  without  fear  of  offence,  be  spe- 
cially mentioned.* 


4.— THE  CONVIVIAL  SONG. 

The  social  and  fraternal  feelings  engendered  by 
the  gregarious  instinct  in  man,  have  found  expres- 
sion in  all  ages  in  jovial,  boisterous  songs,  more  or 
less  Bacchanalian  in  character.  There  is  a  strong 
flavour  of  usquebaugh  about  most  of  them,  and  a 

*  The  reader  is  referred  to  the  most  recent  Anthologies:  "Love 
Lyrics,"  edited  by  William  Watson  (Macmillan  &  Co.) ;  "  Seventeenth 
Century  Lyrics,"  edited  by  George  Saintsbury  (Percival  &Co.). 


THE  SONG.  22$ 

sonorous  refrain  seems  to  be  an  almost  essential 
addendum.  Auld  Lang  Syne  may  be  taken  as  a 
typical  example,  while  Burns  and  Moore  must  be 
considered  as  our  joint  kings  of  the  "flowing- 
bowl  "  minstrels.  We  are  not  ashamed,  however, 
to  admit  our  inferiority  to  the  Germans  in  this 
particular  form  of  poetic  expression. 


5.— THE  POLITICAL  SONG. 

The  political  song  requires  mention  here,  though 
it  merits  only  the  rank  of  verse  as  distinct  from 
poetry.  It  is  essentially  ephemeral  and  partisan 
in  character,  and  is  devoid,  for  the  most  part,  of 
noble  and  generous  thoughts.  Though  several  of 
the  Jacobite  songs  breathe  forth  a  spirit  of  devoted 
loyalty,  they  are  as  antiquated  in  sentiment  to-day 
as  the  political  squibs  of  Swift  and  the  Tory  sneers 
of  the  Anti-Jacobin.  Moore,  Elliott,  and  Mackay  in 
recent  times  have  written  some  political  verses  that 
deserve  to  live.* 

In  addition  to  the  varieties  of  songs  already  enu- 
merated, there  are  others  that  can  only  be  classed 
under  such  a  vague  heading  as  purely  Sentimental, 
of  which  Tennyson's  "  Break,  break,  break,"  and 
Miss  Proctor's  "Lost  Chord"  may  be  cited  as 
typical  examples. 

Then  there  is  another  variety  in  which  the  narra- 
tive element  is  more  prominent  than  the  lyrical : 
of  such,  Song-Ballads,  "Auld  Robin  Gray,"  and 

ee  "  Political  Verse,"  edited  by  George  Saintsbury  (Percival  &  Co.) 

Q 


226  OR  THOME  TR  Y. 

Kingsley's  "  Three  Fishers"  and  "  Sands  o*  Dee" 
are  specimens. 

And,  lastly,  there  is  the  Comic  Song,  which,  in 
those  days  of  "  penny  dreadfuls,"  is  rapidly  becom- 
ing a  popular  favourite. 

Before  concluding  this  brief  notice  of  lyric  art, 
it  seems  necessary  to  say  a  few  words  respecting 
those  more  complex  compositions  of  the  kind  that 
are  specially  designed  for  elaborate  musical  treat- 
ment, embracing  solo,  chorus,  and  recitative,  viz., 
the  librettos  of  the  Oratorio,  the  Opera,  and  the 
Cantata. 

The  Oratorio,  always  sacred  in  its  theme,  and 
the  Opera,  always  secular,  resemble  each  other  in 
nearly  every  other  respect.  Both  are  essentially 
dramatic:  they  have  separate  characters  with 
distinct  roles,  and  depict  changing  scenes  and  con- 
tinuous action.  The  latter  is  always  acted,  and 
embellished  with  all  the  accessories  of  a  regular 
drama;  the  former,  no  doubt  solely  on  account 
of  its  subject  matter,  is  rendered  with  the  pictur- 
esque effects  of  sound  only;  but  no  one  can  listen 
to  an  adequate  representation  of  such  an  oratorio 
as  Mendelssohn's  Elijah  without  mentally  realis- 
ing" the  dramatic  situations  as  though  they  were 
visibly  before  him.  In  both,  also,  the  lyrical 
element  takes  the  form  of  song,  duet,  trio  and 
chorus,  the  narrative  portion  being  rendered  in 
recitative. 

The  Cantata  is  usually  devoid    of  the  dramatic 
element   altogether.      It   gives   expression   to  the 


227 

varied  emotions  that  arise  in  the  contemplation  of 
heroic  deeds  and  lofty  ideals,  now  pensive  and 
mournful,  now  frenzied  or  jubilant.  Several  of  our 
noblest  odes  which  partake  of  this  character  have 
already  been  clothed  in  melody  and  harmony  that 
at  once  add  to  their  intrinsic  beauty  and  widen  the 
field  of  their  appreciators. 

The  adaptation  to  our  own  tongue  of  works  of 
this  kind  composed  in  other  languages — for  they 
are  susceptible  of  great  variety  of  treatment — 
affords  excellent  scope  for  the  exercise  of  the  purely- 
technical  side  of  the  Art  of  Versification. 


POETIC  TRIFLES. 

IN  this  chapter  we  wish  to  direct  the  student's 
footsteps  into  those  by-paths  of  the  garden  of 
poesy  where  grow  innumerable  wild  flowers  with 
pretty  blossoms  and  polished  berries,  which,  for 
want  of  a  more  suitable  name,  are  known  as  Social 
or  Occasional  verses*  It  may  be  said  that  they 
stand  in  the  same  relation  to  the  hig-her  forms  of 
poetry  that  a  pyrotechnic  display  does  to  "  the 
immortal  Jove's  dread  clamours."  Poets  and 
scholars  in  all  ages  and  countries  have  taken  de- 
light, in  their  leisure  moments,  in  throwing  off 
these  metrical  playthings,  as  momentary  thought 
or  passing  incident  suggested  the  occasion.  Here, 
for  instance,  are  some  verses  tossed  off  "  in  the 
ten  minutes  before  dinner :  " 

Fast  falls  the  snow,  O  lady  mine  ! 
Sprinkling1  the  lawn  with  crystals  fine  : 
But,  by  the  gods,  we  won't  repine. 

While  we're  together 
We'll  chat  and  rhyme,  and  kiss  and  dine, 

Defying  weather. 

*  It  would  be  next  to  sacrilege  to  class  Pope's  Rape  of  the  Lock 
under  this  heading,  but  it  is  undoubtedly  the  most  brilliant  Occasion:!) 
poem  in  the  language. 


POLTJC   TRll-LKS. 

So  stir  the  fire,  and  pour  the  wine, 
And  let  those  sea-green  eyes  divine 
Pour  their  love-madness  into  mine  : 

I  don't  care  whether 
'Tis  snow  or  sun,  or  rain  or  shine, 

If  we're  together. 

Alorthucr  Collins. 


These  minor  efforts  may  result  in  original  ex- 
periments, or  in  translations,  adaptations,  or  even 
parodies  of  favourite  passages  from  other  writers. 
How  many  scores  of  times  have  Horatian  gems 
been  adapted  to  passing  circumstances  by  busy 
men  of  the  world  in  their  leisure  moments,  just  to 
see  if  they  had  retained  their  old  skill  in  verse- 
making  !  And  the  same  cultured  taste  leads  also  to 
the  turning  of  our  own  poetic  beauties  into  other 
tongues. 

Social  verse  has  been  aptly  described  as  "  the 
poetry  of  men  who  belong  to  society,  who  have  a 
keen  sympathy  with  the  lightsome  tone  and  airy 
jesting  of  fashion;  who  are  not  disturbed  by  the 
flippances  of  small  talk,  but,  on  the  contrary,  can 
see  the  gracefulness  of  which  it  is  capable,  and 
who,  nevertheless,  amid  all  the  froth  of  society,  feel 
that  there  are  depths  in  our  nature  which  even  in 
the  gaiety  of  drawing-rooms  cannot  be  forgotten. 
It  is  the  poetry  of  bitter-sweet,  of  sentiment  that 
breaks  into  humour,  and  of  thought,  which,  lest  it 
should  be  too  solemn,  breaks  into  laughter.  When 
society  becomes  refined,  it  begins  to  dread  the  exhi- 
bition of  strong  feeling,  no  matter  whether  real  or 
simulated.  In  such  an  atmosphere  emotion  takes 


230  OR  THOME TR  Y. 

refuge  in  jest,  and  passion  hides  itself  in  scepticism 
of  passion.  We  are  not  going  to  wear  our  hearts 
upon  our  sleeves,  rather  than  that  we  shall  pretend 
to  have  no  heart  at  all ;  and  if,  perchance,  a  bit  of 
it  should  peep  out,  we  shall  hide  it  again  as  quickly 
as  possible,  and  laugh  at  the  exposure  as  a  good 
joke/' :*  This  kind  of  verse  has  rarely  been  produced 
by  the  professional  poet  of  recluse  habits  and  deep 
thought ;  men  busily  engaged  in  the  affairs  of  the 
world,  but  with  a  keen  zest  for  leisured  culture,  such 
as  Suckling,  Herrick,  Swift,  Prior,  and  Landor, 
have  succeeded  best.  Their  fancy  and  sense  of 
humour  have  seized  upon  those  incidents  and  situa- 
tions of  moving  life  most  fitted  for  poetic  treatment, 
while  their  ingenuity  and  wit  have  turned  them 
— over  their  cakes  and  ale — into  things  of  beauty. 
Perhaps  it  is  because  there  is  an  after-dinner 
flavour  about  many  of  these  miniature  poems  that 
coarseness  occasionally  disfigures  their  beauty,  and 
debars  their  racy  wit  from  wider  appreciation. 
These  trifles  should  always  be  refined  and  grace- 
ful, humorous  rather  than  witty,  the  tone  should  not 
be  pitched  too  high,  nor  need  the  treatment  advance 
much  beyond  the  conventional  limits  of  social 
usages ;  their  measure  should  run  smoothly,  and 
the  rhymes  ring  out  clearly,  while  a  playful  warmth 
should  be  perceptible  throughout.  Little  more  need 
be  added  at  present,  beyond  reproducing  a  few 
typical  specimens. 


*  The  reader  is  referred  to  the  "Lyra  Elegantiarum,  "by  Frederick 
Locker- Lampson. 


POETIC    TRIFLES.  2$l 

Love  is  a  torment  of  the  mind, 

A  tempest  everlasting ; 
And,  Jove  hath  made  it  of  a  kind, 
Not  well,  not  full,  nor  fasting. 

Why  so  ? 

More  we  enjoy  it,  more  it  dies, 
If  not  enjoyed,  it  sighing  cries 
Heigh  ho  ! 

Daniel. 

My  Love  in  her  attire  doth  show  her  wit, 

It  doth  so  well  become  her  : 
For  every  season  she  hath  dressings  fit, 

For  winter,  spring,  and  summer. 
No  beauty  she  doth  miss 

When  all  her  robes  are  on  : 
But  Beauty's  self  she  is 

When  all  her  robes  are  gone. 

Anon. 


THE   HEADACHE. 

My  head  doth  ache. 
O  Sappho, take 

Thy  fillet 

And  bind  the  pain, 
Or  bring  some  bane 

To  kill  it. 

But  less  that  part 
Than  my  poor  heart 

Now  is  sick  : 
One  kTss  from  thee 
Will  counsel  be 

And  physic. 

Herrick. 


232  ORTHOMETRY. 

TO   LUC  AST  A    ON   GOING    TO    THE    WARS. 

Tell  me  not,  Sweet,  I  am  unkind, 

That  from  the  nunnery 
Of  your  chaste  breast  and  quiet  mind, 

To  war  and  arms  I  fly. 

True,  a  new  mistress  now  I  chase. 

The  first  foe  in  the  field, 
And,  with  a  stronger  faith  embrace 

A  sword,  a  horse,  a  shield. 

Yet  this  inconstancy  is  such 

As  you  too  shall  adore  ; 
I  could  not  love  thee,  Dear,  so  much, 

Loved  I  not  Honour  more. 

Lovelace. 

Out  upon  it,  I  have  loved 
Three  whole  days  together, 

And  am  like  to  love  three  more — 
If  it  prove  fine  weather. 

#  *  *  * 

Had  it  any  been  but  she, 

And  that  very  face, 
There  had  been  at  least,  ere  this, 

A  dozen  in  her  place. 

Suckling. 

False  tho'  she  be  to  me  and  love, 

I'll  not  pursue  revenge  ; 
For  still  the  charmer  I  approve, 

Tho'  I  deplore  her  change. 

In  hours  of  bliss  we  oft  have  met, 
They  could  not  always  last ; 

And  though  the  present  I  regret, 
I'm  grateful  for  the  past. 

Congreve. 


POETIC  TRIFLES.  2 

My  muse  and  I  ere  youth  and  spirits  fled, 
Sat  up  together  many  a  night,  no  doubt  : 

But  now  I've  sent  the  poor  old  lass  to  bed, 
Simply  because  my  fire  is  going  out. 

G.  Caiman. 

ON  SEEING   THE   SPEAKER   ASLEEP. 
Sleep,  Mr.  Speaker,  'tis  only  fair 

If  you  mayn't  in  your  bed,  that  you  should  in  your  chair 
Louder  and  louder  still  they  grow, 
Tory  and  Radical,  Aye  and  No  ; 
Talking  by  night  and  talking  by  day : 
Sleep,  Mr.  Speaker,  sleep  while  you  may  ! 

Praed. 

As  lamps  burn  silent  with  unconscious  light. 
So  modest  ease  in  beauty  shines  most  bright ; 
Unaiming  charms  with  edge  resistless  fall, 
And  she  who  means  no  mischief  does  it  all. 

Aaron  Hill. 

Sly  Beelzebub  took  all  occasions 

To  try  Job's  constancy  and  patience. 

He  took  his  honour,  took  his  health  ; 

He  took  his  children,  took  his  wealth, 

His  servants,  horses,  oxen,  cows, — 

But  cunning  Satan  did  not  take  his  spouse. 

But  Heaven  that  brings  out  good  from  evil, 

And  likes  to  disappoint  the  devil, 

Had  predetermined  to  restore 

Two-fold,  all  he  had  before, 

His  servants,  camels,  asses,  cows, — 

Short-sighted  devil,  not  to  take  his  spouse. 

S.  T.  Coleridge 

I  loved  thee,  beautiful  and  kind. 

And  plighted  an  eternal  vow  ; 
So  altered  are  they  face  and  mind, 

'Twere  perjury  to  love  thee  now. 

Earl  Nugent. 


234  OR7HOMETR  Y. 

RICH   AND   POOR;  OR,   SAINT  AND   SINNER. 

The  poor  man's  sins  are  glaring ; 
In  the  face  of  ghostly  warning 

He  is  caught  in  the  fact 

Of  an  overt  act — 
Buying  greens  on  Sunday  morning. 

The  rich  man's  sins  are  hidden 
In  the  pomp  of  wealth  and  station  ; 

And  escape  the  sight 

Of  the  children  of  light, 
Who  are  wise  in  their  generation. 

The  rich  man  has  a  cellar 
And  a  ready  butler  by  him  ; 

The  poor  must  steer 

For  his  pint  of  beer 

Where  the  saint  cannot  choose  but  spy  him. 

T.  L.  Peacock. 

If  all  be  true  that  I  do  think, 
There  are  five  reasons  we  should  drink  : 
Good  wine — a  friend — or  being  dry — 
Or  lest  we  should  be  by-and-by — 
Or  any  other  reason  why. 

Dr.  Aldrich. 


EPITAPH   ON   FREDERICK   PRINCE   OF    WALES. 

Here  lies  Fred, 

Who  was  alive  and  is  dead. 

Had  it  been  his  father, 

I  had  much  rather  ; 

Had  it  been  his  brother, 

Still  better  than  another ; 

Had  it  been  his  sister, 

No  one  would  have  missed  her ; 


POETIC   TRIFLES.  235 

Had  it  been  the  whole  generation, 
Still  better  for  the  nation. 
But  since  'tis  only  Fred, 
Who  was  alive  and  is  dead, 
There's  no  more  to  be  said. 

A  non . 


Jenny  kissed'  me  when  we  met, 

Jumping  from  the  chair  she  sat  in  ; 
Time,  you  thief,  who  love  to  get 

Secrets  into  your  list,  put  that  in. 
Say  I'm  weary,  say  I'm  sad, 

Say  that  health  and  wealth  have  mi«sed  me 
Say  I'm  growing  old,  but  add — 

Jenny  kissed  me. 

Leigh  Hunt. 


The  law  locks  up  the  man  or  woman 
Who  steals  a  goose  from  off  the  common  ; 
But  lets  the  greater  villain  loose, 
Who  steals  the  common  from  the  goose. 

E.  Elliott. 


Thoughtless  that  "  all  that's  brightest  fades," 
Unmindful  of  the  knave  of  spades, 

The  sexton  and  his  subs  ; 
How  foolishly  we  play  our  parts  ! 
Our  wives  on  diamonds  set  their  hearts, 

We  set  our  hearts  on  clubs. 

Sydney  Smith. 

God  bless  the  King,  I  mean  the  faith's  defender 
God  bless— no  harm  in  blessing-— the  Pretender  : 
But  who  pretender  is,  or  who  is  king,— 
God  bless  us  all— that's  quite  another  thing. 

y.  Byrom. 


236  ORTHOUETRY. 

ROSE'S   BIRTHDAY. 

Tell  me,  perverse  young  year  ! 
\Vhy  is  the  moon  so  drear  ? 

Is  there  no  flower  to  twine  ? 
Away,  thou  churl,  away  ! 
'Tis  Rose's  natal  day, 

Reserve  thy  frowns  for  mine. 

TV.  S.  Landor. 

I've  lost  my  portmanteau  : 

I  pity  your  grief. 
All  my  sermons  are  in  it : 

I  pity  the  thief. 

Anon. 

The  law  allows  one  husband  to  one  wife, 
But  wives  will  seldom  brook  this  straightened  life 
They  must  have  two  :  besides  her  Jack  each  Jill, 
In  spite  of  law  and  gospel,  has  her  Will. 

R.  Simpson. 

THE    TWO    HARVEYS. 

Two  Harveys  had  a  mutual  wish 

To  please  in  different  stations— 
The  one  invented  "  sauce  for  fish," 

The  other  "  Meditations." 
Each  had  his  pungent  power  applied 

To  aid  the  dead  and  dying  : 
That  gave  relish  to  the  sole  when  fried, 

This  saved  the  soul  from  frying. 

A    FISHING    EXPEDITION. 

One  morning  when  Spring  was  in  her  teen;- 

A  morn  to  a  poet's  wishing — 
All  tinted  in  delicate  pinks  and  greens, 

Miss  Bessie  and  I  went  fishing. 


POETIC  TRIFLES.  237 

1  in  my  rongh  and  easy  clothes, 
With  my  face  at  the  sunshine's  mercy ; 

She  with  her  hat  tipped  down  to  her  nose, 
And  her  nose  tipped  vice  versa. 


I  with  my  rod,  my  reel,  and  my  hooks, 
And  a  hamper  for  lunching  recesses  ; 

She  with  the  bait  of  her  comely  looks 
And  the  sheen  of  her  golden  tresses. 

So  we  sat  down  on  the  sunny  dyke, 
Where  the  white  pond  lilies  teeter  ; 

I  set  to  fishing  like  quaint  old  Ike, 
And  she  like  Simon  Peter. 


All  the  morn  I  lay  in  the  light  of  her  eyes, 
And  dreamily  watched  and  waited  ; 

But  the  fish  were  cunning  and  would  not  rise, 
And  the  baiter  alone  was  baited. 


And  when  the  time  for  departure  came, 

The  bag  was  as  flat  as  a  flounder  ; 
But  Bessie  had  neatly  hooked  her  game — 
A  hundred  and  eighty  pounder. 

Anon. 
(Attributed  to  John  Bright. 

My  temples  throb,  my  pulses  boil, 

I'm  sick  of  Song,  and  Ode,  and  Ballad. 
So,  Thyrsis,  take  the  midnight  oil, 

And  pour  it  on  a  lobster  salad. 
My  brain  is  dull,  my  sight  is  foul, 

I  cannot  write  a  verse,  or  read. 
Then,  Pallas,  take  away  thine  Owl, 

And  let  us  have  a  Lark  instead. 

Hood. 


238  OR  THOME  TR  Y. 


HIPPOPHAGY. 

If  horseflesh  won't  suffice  to  serve  the  masses, 
The  next  resource  will  certainly  be  asses, 
And  Heaven  only  knows  where  that  will  end  : 
Some  people  won't  have  left  a  single  friend. 

Chas.  Mat  hews. 

On  Easter  Sunday  Lucy  spoke, 

And  said,  "  A  saint  you  might  provoke, 

Dear  Sam,  each  day,  since  Monday  last ; 

But  now,  I  see,  your  rage  is  past." 

Said  Sam,  "  What  Christian  could  be  meek  ! 

You  know,  my  love,  'twas  Passion  week  ; 

And  so,  you  see,  the  rage  I've  spent, 

Was  not  my  own — 'twas  only  Lent}' 

Lover. 

TO    MY    WIFE. 

To  Thee,  who  bending  o'er  my  table's  rim 

Has  marked  these  measures  flow,  these  pages  brim  ; 

Who,  linked  for  ever  to  a  lettered  life, 

Hast  drawn  the  dubious  lot  of  student's  wife  ; 

Kept  hush  around  my  desk,  nor  grudg'd  me  still 

The  long,  dull,  ceaseless  rustling  of  my  quill. 

Content  to  guide  the  house,  the  child  to  teach, 

And  hail  my  fitful  intervals  of  speech  ; 

Or  bid  the  bald  disjointed  tale  rehearse, 

Or  drink  harsh  numbers  mellowing  into  verse  : 

Who  still,  mid  cares  sedate,  in  sorrows  brave, 

Hast  forme  borne  the  light,  and  with  me  shared  the  grave, 

And  grown  from  soft  to  strong,  from  fair  to  sage — 

Flower  of  my  youth  and  jewel  of  my  age  ! 

To  Thee  these  lays  I  bring,  with  joy,  with  pride, 

Sure  of  thy  suffrage,  if  of  none  beside. 

Rev.  C.  Merivale, 
"  Dedication  of  his  Translation 
of  the  '  Iliad.'  " 


POETfC    TRIFLES.  239 

IMITATION   OF  DRYDEN. 

Three  colonels  in  three  distant  counties  born, 
Sligo,  Armagh,  and  Lincoln  did  adorn. 
The  first  in  paucity  of  thought  surpassed, 
The  next  in  poverty,  in  both  the  last ; 
The  force  of  nature  could  no  further  go — 
To  make  the  third  she  shaved  the  other  two. 

D.  aConnell. 

Of  late  years  the  cultivation  of  this  species  of 
poetic  composition  has  greatly  spread  both  in  this 
country  and  in  America  ;  our  magazines  and  reviews 
furnish  an  ever-increasing  crop,  and  much  of  this 
fugitive  verse  is  being  collected,  and  deservedly  so, 
in  permanent  form.  A  fashion  has  also  sprung  up 
amongst  the  minor  poets  of  the  day  and  literary  ama- 
teurs, for  verse  construction  upon  the  models  of  the 
old  Provencal  poets  of  France ;  and  it  speaks  well  for 
the  spread  of  culture  and  taste  amongst  us,  that  so 
much  interest  is  taken  in  a  refined  amusement  of 
this  kind.  This  new  fashion  is  certainly  not  much 
more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  old  in  this  country, 
and  already  quite  an  imposing  anthology  of  this 
kind  of  verse  has  been  formed,  many  of  the  speci- 
mens being  extremely  beautiful.*  The  restrictions 
as  to  the  number  of  lines,  the  number  and  arrange- 
ment of  rhymes,  and  recurrence  of  refrains  imposed 
by  these  quaint  models  are  even  greater  than  in  the 
sonnet,  and  therefore  afford  ample  scope  for  the 
taste,  judgment,  and  patience  of  the  versifier.  We 

*  "  Ballades  and  Rondeaus,  &c."  Selected,  vvirh  a  chapter  on  the 
various  forms,  by  Gleeson  White.  The  Canterbury  Poets.  (Walter 
Scott,  Lond.  1887.) 


240  OR  THOME  TR  Y. 

proceed  to  explain  the  build,  and  to  give  specimens 
of  the  chief  varieties. 


i. -THE  BALLADE. 

The  Ballade  consists  of  three  stanzas  of  eight  or 
ten  lines,  concluding  with  an  envoy*  of  four  or  five 
lines.  There  must  be  only  three  rhymes  in  each 
stanza,  and  the  same  three,  and  in  the  same  order, 
must  obtain  throughout ;  and  each  stanza  as  well 
as  the  envoy  has  the  same  refrain. 

FOR    ME    THE    BLITHE    BALLADE. 

Of  all  the  songs  that  dwell  ' 

Where  softest  speech  doth  flow, 
Some  love  the  sweet  rondel, 

And  some  the  bright  rondeau, 

With  rhymes  that  tripping  go 
In  mirthful  measures  clad  ; 

But  would  I  choose  them  ? — no, 
For  me  the  blithe  ballade  ! 

O'er  some,  the  villanelle, 

That  sets  the  heart  aglow, 
Doth  its  enchanting  spell 

With  lines  recurring  throw  ; 

Some  weighed  with  wasting  woe, 
Gay  triolets  make  them  glad  ; 

But  would  I  choose  them  ? — no, 
For  me  the  blithe  ballade  ! 

*  The  envoi  is  a  kind  of  invocation  or  dedication  of  the  poem,  and 
used  to  commence  with  the  title  of  the  person  to  whom  it  was  addressed 
— Sire,  or  Princess.  It  forms  the  peroration  or  climax  to  the  verses, 
and  should  more  clearly  express  the  sentiment  or  feeling  embodied  in 
the  poem. 


POETIC   TRIFLES.  241 

On  chant  of  stately  swell, 

With  measured  feet  and  slow, 
As  grave  as  minster  bell, 

As  vesper  tolling  low, 

Do  some  their  praise  bestow  ;' 
Some  on  sestinas  sad  ; 

But  would  I  choose  them  ? — no, 
For  me  the  blithe  ballade  ! 

Envoi. 
Prince,  to  these  songs  a-row 

The  Muse  might  endless  add  ; 
But  would  I  choose  them  ? — no, 
For  me  the  blithe  ballade  ! 

Clinton  Scollard. 

BALLADE. 

O  Love,  whom  I  have  never  seen, 

Yet  ever  hope  to  see  ; 
The  memory  that  might  have  been, 

The  hope  that  yet  may  be  ; 
The  passion  that  persistently 

Makes  all  my  pulses  beat 
With  unassuaged  desire  that  we 

Some  day  may  come  to  meet : 

This  August  night  outspread  serene, 

The  scent  of  flower  and  tree, 
The  fall  of  water  that  unseen 

Moans  on  incessantly, 
That  line  of  fire,  where  breaks  the  sea 

In  ripples  at  my  feet ; 
What  mean  they  all,  if  not  that  we 

Some  day  may  come  to  meet  ? 

About  your  window  bowered  in  green 

The  night  wind  wanders  free, 
While  out  into  the  night  you  lean, 

And  dream,  but  not  of  me, 


242  OR  THOME  TR  Y. 

As  now  I  dream  of  you  who  flee 
Before  my  dream  complete 

The  shadow  of  the  day  when  we 
Some  day  may  come  to  meet. 

Em'oi. 
Princess,  while  yet  on  lawn  and  lea 

The  harvest  moon  is  sweet, 
Ere  August  die,  who  knows  but  we 
Some  day  may  come  to  meet. 

"  Love  in  Idleness. 

GRANDMOTHER. 

Another  new  gown,  as  I  declare  ! 

How  many  more  is  it  going  to  be  ? 
And  your  forehead  all  hid  in  a  cloud  of  hair— 

'Tis  nothing  but  folly,  that  I  can  see  ! 

The  maidens  of  nowadays  make  too  free  ; 
To  right  and  to  left  is  the  money  flung  ; 

We  used  to  dress  as  became  our  degree — 
But  things  have  altered  since  I  was  young. 

Stuff,  in  my  time,  was  made  to  wear ; 

Gowns  we  had  never  but  two  or  three  ; 
Did  we  fancy  them  spoilt,  if  they  chanced  to  tear  ? 

And  shrink  from  a  patch  or  a  darn  ?  not  we  ! 

For  pleasure,  a  gossiping  dish  of  tea, 
Or  a  mushroom  hunt,  while  the  dew  yet  hung, 

And  no  need,  next  day,  for  the  doctor's  fee — 
But  things  have  altered  since  I  was  young. 

The  yellow  gig,  and  a  drive  to  the  fair ; 

A  keepsake  bought  in  a  booth  on  the  lea; 
A  sixpence,  perhaps,  to  break  and  share — 

That's  how  your  grandfather  courted  me. 

Did  your  grandmother  blush,  do  you  think — not  she 
When  he  found  her,  the  churn  and  the  pails  among  ? 

Or  your  grandfather  like  her  the  less  ?  not  he  ! 
But  things  have  altered  since  I  was  young. 


POETIC   TKU'LI:S. 


-743 


Envoi. 

Child  !  you  pout,  and  you  urge  your  plea — 
Better  it  were  that  you  held  your  tongue  ! 

Maids  should  learn  at  their  elders'  knee-  - 
But  things  have  altered  since  I  was  young. 

Probyir. 


2.— THE     RONDEL. 

The  Rondel  is  the  old  form  of  the  more  popular 
rondeau  into  which  it  ultimately  grew.  It  was 
much  used  as  far  back  as  the  fourteenth  century. 
It  consisted  originally  of  two  four  or  five  line 
stanzas,  with  only  two  rhymes,  but  in  the  hands 
of  Charles  d'Orleans  (1391-1466)  its  form  was 
changed,  as  in  the  specimen  below. 


THE    WANDERER. 

Love  comes  back  to  his  vacant  dwelling, — 
The  old,  old  Love  that  we  knew  of  yore  : 
We  see  him  stand  by  the  open  door, 

With  his  great  eyes  sad,  and  his  bosom  swelling. 

He  makes  as  though  in  our  arms  repelling, 
He  fain  would  lie  as  he  lay  before  ; — 

Love  comes  back  to  his  vacant  dwelling, — 
The  old,  old  Love  that  we  knew  of  yore  ! 

Ah  '  who  shall  help  us  from  overspelling, 
That  sweet  forgotten,  forbidden  lore  ! 
E'en  as  we  doubt  in  our  hearts  once  more, 
With  a  rush  of  tears  to  our  eyelids  welling, 
Love  comes  back  to  his  vacant  dwelling. 

Austin  Dob  son. 


244  OR  THOME  TRY. 

RONDEL. 

How  is  it  you  and  I 
Are  always  meeting  so  ? 

I  see  you  passing  by 
Whichever  way  I  go. 


I  cannot  say  I  know 
The  spell  that  draws  us  nigh, 
How  is  it  you  and  I 

Are  always  meeting  so  ? 

Still  thoughts  to  thoughts  reply, 

And  whispers  ebb  and  flow  ; 
I  say  it  with  a  sigh 

But  half  confessed  and  low, 
How  is  it  you  and  I 

Are  always  meeting  so  ? 

John  Cameron  Grant. 


RONDELETS. 

"  Which  way  he  went  ?  " 
]  know  not — how  should  I  go  spy 

Which  way  he  went  ? 
I  only  know  him  gone.     "  Relent '-  " 
He  never  will — unless  I  die  ! 
And  then,  what  will  it  signify 
Which  way  he  went  ? 

Say  what  you  please, 
But  know,  I  shall  not  change  my  mind 

Say  what  you  please, 
Even,  if  you  wish  it,  on  your  knees — 
And,  when  you  hear  me  next  defined 
As  something  lighter  than  the  wind, 
Say  what  you  please  ! 
May  Probyn. 


roinw  TRIFLES.  245 

.}.— THE     RONDEAU. 

The  Rondeau  has  gradually  grown  out  of  the 
older  form  given  above,  and  became  popularised 
by  Voltaire,  who  wrote  many  charming  specimens 
of  it.  The  first  example  we  quote  is  a  clever 
adaptation  of  one  of  the  great  Frenchman's  best. 
The  poem  consists  of  thirteen  octosyllabic  lines, 
arranged  in  three  stanzas  of  five,  three,  and  five 
verses  each,  with  two  rhymes  only  throughout,  and 
a  refrain  recurring  at  the  end  of  the  second  and 
third  group. 

RON  DBA  U. 

You  bid  me  try,  Blue-eyes,  to  write 

A  Rondeau.     What !  forthwith  ?— To-night  ? 

Reflect.     Some  skill  I  have,  'tis  true  ; 

But  thirteen  lines  ! — and  rhymed  on  two  !  — 
''Refrain,"  as  well.     Ah,  hapless  plight ! 
Still  there  are  five  lines — ranged  aright. 
These  Gallic  bonds,  I  feared,  would  fright 

My  easy  Muse.     They  did,  till  you — 
You  bid  me  try  ! 

"•  That  makes  them  eight. — The  port's  in  sight  : 

'Tis  all  because  your  eyes  are  bright ! 
Now  just  a  pair  to  end  in  '  oo,'- 
When  maids  command,  what  can't  we  do  ! 

Behold  !  The  Rondeau— tasteful,  light—- 
You bid  me  try  !  " 

"  WITHOUT  ONE    KISS." 

Without  one  kiss  she's  gone  away, 
And  stol'n  the  brightness  out  of  day  ; 

With  scornful  lips  and  haughty  brow 

She's  left  me  melancholy  now, 
In  spite  of  all  that  I  could  say.       _ 


246  OR  1  HOME  7  -R  Y. 

And  so,  to  guess  as  best  I  may 
What  angered  her,  awhile  I  stay 
Beneath  this  blown  acacia  bough, 
Without  one  kiss  ; 

Yet  all  my  wildered  brain  can  pay 
My  questioning",  is  but  to  pray 
Persuasion  may  my  speech  endow, 
And  Love  may  never  more  allow 
My  injured  sweet  to  sail  away 
Without  one  kiss. 

Charles  G.  D.  Roberts, 


CARPE  DIEM. 

To-day,  what  is  there  in  the  air 

That  makes  December  seem  sweet  May  ? 

There  are  no  swallows  anywhere, 

Nor  crocuses  to  crown  your  hair, 
And  hail  you  down  my  garden  way. 
Last  night  the  full  moon's  frozen  stare 

Struck  me,  perhaps  ;  or  did  you  say 
Really,— you'd  come,  sweet  friend  and  fair  ! 

To-day  ? 
To-day  is  here  : — come  !  crown  to-day 

With  Spring's  delight  or  Spring's  despair, 
Love  cannot  bide  old  Time's  delay  : — 
Down  my  glad  gardens  light  winds  play, 

And  my  whole  life  shall  bloom  and  bear 
To-day. 

TJieo.  Afarzials. 


IN   ROTTEN    ROW. 

In  Rotten  Row  a  cigarette 

t  sat  and  smoked,  with  no  regret 

For  all  the  tumult  that  had  been. 

The  distances  were  still  and  green, 


POE1IC  TRIFLES.  247 

And  streaked  with  shadows  cool  and  wet. 
Two  sweethearts  on  a  bench  were  set, 
Two  birds  among  the  boughs  were  met ; 
So  love  and  song  were  heard  and  seen 
In  Rotten  Row. 

A  horse  or  two  there  was  to  fret 
The  soundless  sand  ;  but  work  and  debt, 
Fair  flowers  and  falling  leaves  between, 
While  clocks  are  chiming  clear  and  keen, 
A  man  may  very  well  forget 

In  Rotten  Row. 

W.  E.  Henley. 


4.— THE   ROUNDEL. 

The  Roundel  is  a  variation  of  the  rondeau,  con- 
sisting of  three  stanzas  of  three  lines  each,  linked 
together  with  but  two  rhymes,  and  a  refrain  at  the 
end  of  the  first  and  third  group, 

THE   ROUNDEL. 

A  Roundel  is  wrought  as  a  ring  or  a  starbright  sphere, 
With  craft  of  delight  and  with  cunning  of  sound  unsought, 
That  the  heart  of  the  hearer  may  smile  if  to  pleasure  his  ear 
A  roundel  is  wrought. 

Its  jewel  of  music  is  carven  of  all  or  of  aught — 

Love,   laughter,  or    mourning — remembrance    of    rapture    or 

fear — 
That  fancy  may  fashion  to  hang  in  the  ear  of  thought. 

As  a  bird's  quick  song  runs  round,  and  the  hearts  in  us  hear— 
Pause  answers  to  pause,  and  again  the  same  strain  caught, 
So  moves  the  device  whence,  round  as  a  pearl  or  tear, 
A  roundel  is  wrought. 
Algernon  Charles  Swinburne. 


248  ORTHOMETRY. 

NOTHING   SO    SWEET. 

Nothing  so  sweet  in  all  the  world  there  is 

Than  this — to  stand  apart  in  Love's  retreat 
And  gaze  at  Love.     There  is  as  that,  ywis, 
Nothing  so  sweet. 

Yet  surely  God  hath  placed  before  our  feet 
Some  sweeter  sweetness  and  completer  bliss, 

And  something  that  shall  prove  more  truly  meet. 

Soothly  I  know  not : — when  the  live  lips  kiss 

There  is  no  more  that  our  prayers  shall  entreat, 
Save  only  Death.     Perhaps  there  is  as  this 
Nothing  so  sweet. 

Charles  Sayle. 

A    RON  DELAY. 

Man  is  for  woman  made, 
And  woman  made  for  man  : 

As  the  spur  is  for  the  jade, 

As  the  scabbard  for  the  blade, 
As  for  liquor  is  the  can, 

So  man's  for  woman  made, 
And  woman  made  for  man. 

As  the  sceptre  to  be  sway'd, 
As  to  night  the  serenade, 

As  for  pudding  is  the  pan, 

As  to  cool  us  is  the  fan, 
So  man's  for  woman  made, 

And  woman  made  for  man. 

Be  she  widow,  wife,  or  maid, 
Be  she  wanton,  be  she  staid, 

Be  she  well  or  ill  arrayed, 

*  *  *  * 

So  man's  for  woman  made, 
And  woman  made  for  man. 


POETIC   77?//-7./-..s.  249 


5.— THE   SESTINA. 

The  Sestina  dates  from  the  thirteenth  century, 
and  was  in  vogue  in  Italy  as  well  as  France, 
being  used  by  Dante  and  Petrarch.  Some  writers 
claim  for  it  the  supreme  place  in  poems  of  fixed 
form— above  the  sonnet  even.  It  is  made  up  of 
six  six-line  stanzas  and  one  of  three  lines.  There 
are  only  two  rhymes  throughout,  and  the  terminal 
words  of  each  stanza  are  the  same  all  through, 
though  in  different  order.  Here  is  a  beautiful 
specimen  by  Mr.  Swinburne  : 

SESTINA. 

I  saw  my  soul  at  rest  upon  a  day, 

As  a  bird  sleeping  in  the  nest  of  night, 

Among  soft  leaves  that  give  the  straight  way 

To  touch  its  wings  but  not  its  eyes  with  light ; 

So  that  it  knew,  as  one  in  visions  may, 

And  knew  not  as  men  waking,  of  delight. 

This  was  the  measure  of  my  soul's  delight ; 

It  had  no  power  of  joy  to  fly  by  day, 
Nor  part  in  the  large  lordship  of  the  light ; 

But  in  a  secret  moon-beholden  way 
Had  all  its  will  of  dreams  and  pleasant  night, 

And  all  the  love  and  life  that  sleepers  may. 

But  such  life's  triumph  as  men  waking  may 
It  might  not  have  to  feed  its  faint  delight 

Between  the  stars  by  night  and  sun  by  day, 

Shut  up  with  green  leaves  and  a  little  light  ; 

Because  its  way  was  as  a  lost  star's  way, 

A  world's  not  wholly  known  of  day  or  night. 


250  OR  THOME  TR  Y. 

All  loves  and  dreams  and  sounds  and  gleams  of  night 
Made  it  all  music  that  such  minstrels  may, 

And  all  they  had  they  gave  it  of  delight ; 
But  in  the  full  face  of  the  fire  of  day 

What  place  shall  be  for  any  starry  light, 

What  part  of  heaven  in  all  the  wide  sun's  way  ? 

Yet  the  soul  woke  not,  sleeping  by  the  way, 

Watched  as  a  nursling  of  the  large  eyed  night, 

And  sought  nor  strength  nor  knowledge  of  the  day, 
Nor  closer  touch  conclusive  of  delight, 

Nor  mightier  joy  nor  truer  than  dreamers  may, 
Nor  more  of  song  than  they,  nor  more  of  light. 

For  who  sleeps  once  and  sees  the  secret  light 
Whereby  sleep  shows  the  soul  a  fairer  way 

Between  the  rise  and  rest  of  day  and  night, 
Shall  care  no  more  to  fare  as  all  men  may, 

But  be  his  place  of  pain  or  of  delight, 

There  shall  he  dwell,  beholding  night  as  day. 

Song,  have  thy  day  and  take  thy  fill  of  iTgfft 

Before  the  night  be  fallen  across  thy  way  ; 
Sing  while  he  may,  man  hath  no  long  delight. 

Algernon  Charles  Sivinburne. 


6.— THE   TRIOLET. 

The  Triolet  is,  indeed,  a  poetic  morsel,  with  rigid 
rules  and  very  little  room  to  expand  even  a  single 
thought.  It  is  an  eight-line  stanza  with  two 
rhymes.  The  first  line  is  repeated  as  the  fourth 
and  seventh,  and  the  second  and  the  eighth  are 
alike  : 

When  first  we  met,  we  did  not  guess 

That  Love  would  ,prove  so  hard  a  master  ; 
Of  more  than  common  friendliness 


rOETIC   TRIFLES.  251 

\Vhen  first  we  met  we  did  not  guess 
\Vho  could  foretell  the  sore  distress, 

The  inevitable  disaster, 
When  first  we  met  ?  we  did  not  guess 

That  Love  would  prove  so  hard  a  master. 

R.  Bridges. 

I  intended  an  Ode, 

And  it  turned  out  a  Sonnet, 
It  began  a  la  mode, 
I  intended  an  Ode  ; 
But  Rose  crossed  the  road 

In  her  latest  new  bonnet. 
I  intended  an  Ode, 

And  it  turned  out  a  Sonnet. 

Austin  Dobson. 

Under  the  sun 

There's  nothing  new ; 
Poem  or  pun, 
Under  the  sun, 
Said  Solomon, 

And  he  said  true. 
Under  the  sun 

There's  nothing  new. 

"  Love  in  Idleness." 


7. -THE  VILLANELLE. 

The  Villanelle  consists  of  five  three-line  stanzas 
and  one  of  four,  with  only  two  rhymes  throughout, 
the  two  refrains  occurring  in  eight  of  the  nineteen 
lines  : 

VILLANELLE. 

The  daffodils  are  on  the  lea — 

Come  out,  sweetheart,  and  bless  the  sun  ! 
The  birds  are  glad,  and  so  are  we. 


OR  THOME  TRY. 

This  morn  a  throstle  piped  to  me, 

"Tis  time  that  mates  were  wooed  and  \von- 
The  daffodils  are  on  the  lea." 

Come  out,  sweetheart,  their  gold  to  see, 
And  building'  of  the  nests  begun — 
The  birds  are  glad,  and  so  are  we. 

You  said, — bethink  you  ! — "It  shall  be 

When,  yellow  smocked,  and  winter  done, 
The  daffodils  are  on  the  lea." 

Yet,  an'  you  will,  to  change  be  free  ! 

How  sigh  you  ? — "  Changes  need  we  none-- 
The  birds  are  glad — and  so  are  we  P  " 

Come  out,  sweetheart !  the  signs  agree, 

The  marriage  tokens  March  has  spun — 
The  daffodils  are  on  the  lea ; 
The  birds  are  glad — and  so  are  we  ! 

May  Probyn. 

WHEN  I   SAW  YOU  LAST,    ROSE. 

When  I  saw  you  last,  Rose, 

You  were  only  so  high  ;  - 
How  fast  the  time  goes  ! 

Like  a  bud  ere  it  blows, 

You  just  peeped  at  the  sky, 
When  I  saw  you  last,  Rose  ! 

Now  your  petals  unclose, 

Now  your  May-time  is  nigh  ;-- 
How  fast  the  time  goes  ! 

And  a  life, — how  it  grows  ! 

You  were  scarcely  so  shy, 
When  I  saw  you  last,  Rose. 


POETIC   TR1FLKS.  253 

In  your  bosom  it  shows 

There's  a  guest  on  the  sly ; 
How  fast  the  time  goes  ! 

Is  it  Cupid  ?     Who  knows  ! 

Yet  you  used  not  to  sigh, 
When  I  saw  you  last,  Rose  ; 
How  fast  the  time  goes  ! 

Austin  Dobson. 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  VERSIFICATION. 

THE  progress  of  art,  unlike  that  of  science,  does 
not  present  an  almost  unbroken  triumphal  march 
from  the  earliest  times  to  the  present  day.  The 
achievements  of  the  "  maker  "  in  one  age  are  not 
the  starting-points  of  advance  in  the  next.  No 
poet  commences  his  song  with  the  accumulated 
knowledge  and  mastery  of  forces  achieved  by  his 
predecessors,  as  the  man  of  science  begins  his  work. 
The  discovery  of  nature's  laws  and  the  application 
of  her  forces  to  the  physical  needs  of  humanity  may- 
be regarded  as  practically  illimitable,  but  it  is  not 
so  with  respect  to  the  requirements  and  aspirations 
of  the  aesthetic  side  of  human  nature.  Ideals  of 
sensuous  beauty  of  eye  and  ear,  and  of  the  loftier 
conceptions  of  our  intellectual  and  emotional  nature 
have  already  been  attained  and  embodied  in  con- 
crete forms  which  satisfy  our  finite  capacities.  The 
divinely  gifted  masters  who  have  appeared  in  the 
world  at  rare  intervals,  have  produced  models  of 
perfection  beyond  which  we  dare  not  hope  to 
advance  nor  even  emulate.  What  artist  in  marble, 
colours,  or  sound  nowadays  dreams  of  rivalling  the 
beauty  of  a  mediaeval  cathedral,  or  the  Madonna 
of  a  master-hand,  or  a  symphony  by  Beethoven  : 


DEVELOPMENT  OF   VERSIFICATION.  255 

And  so  it  is  in  word-composition  also.  Milton's 
sublime  melody,  Shakspere's  mellifluous  rhyth- 
mic flow,  and  the  silvery  ring  of  the  Elizabethan 
lyric,  remain  for  all  times  standards  of  excellence 
which  succeeding  songsters  can  only  attempt  to 
imitate  and  combine  into  new  varieties.  To  try  to 
analyse  the  methods  of  genius,  or  to  frame  rules  for 
the  production  of  a  work  of  art  like  a  poem,  is,  on 
the  face  of  it,  absurd ;  all  we  aim  at  here  is  to  trace 
briefly  the  process  of  smoothing  the  harsh  elements 
of  our  tongue,  and  the  grafting  upon  it  of  the  various 
embellishments  necessary  to  the  production  of 
melodious  verse. 

Our  mother  tongue  was  brought  over  from  the 
lowlands  of  North  Germany  by  our  Teutonic  fore- 
fathers when  they  conquered  and  dispersed  the  Celts 
of  South  Britain,  and  settled  there,  from  A.D.  450 
to  600.  They  were  a  fierce,  warlike,  and  heathen 
race,  but  they  had  within  them  those  sterling  cha- 
racteristics which  have  enabled  them  to  develop 
into  the  foremost  nation  of  modern  times.  Their 
language  was  as  rugged  and  harsh  as  their  habits, 
but,  like  most  semi-barbarous  people,  they  strung' 
together  in  it  and  sang  rude  verses  in  praise  of 
their  warriors  and  gods.  We  learn  this  of  them  as 
soon  as  history  records  their  existence.  They  em- 
braced Christianity  in  the  seventh  century,  and 
readily  began  to  settle  down  to  peaceful  and  civi- 
lised modes  of  life.  Their  crude  verses,  though  still 
full  of  deeds  of  daring  and  prowess,began  to  mellow 
into  softness  by  the  admission  into  them  of  the 
sentiment  of  patriotism,  love  of  home  and  its  sur- 


256  OR  1  HOME  TR  Y. 

roundings,  and  the  elevating  influences  of  religion. 
Metrical  versions  of  Biblical  narratives  began  to 
take  the  place  of  descriptions  of  strife  and  blood- 
shed, and  improvements  in  the  form  as  well  as  in 
the  matter  of  the  verses  gradually  become  percept- 
ible. 

The  structure  of  Anglo-Saxon  verse  is  peculiar. 
Each  line  is  broken  up  into  two  short  sections  by  a 
pause,  and  contains  four  accented  syllables,  the 
number  of  the  unaccented  ones  not  being  counted 
at  first.  The  two  half-verses  are  connected  together 
by  alliteration,  the  same  inititial  sound  occurring  in 
two  emphatic  words  of  the  first  half,  and  in  one  in 
the  second  half.  There  is  a  marked  rhythm,  there- 
fore, which  rings  out,  as  has  been  said,  "  like  the 
sharp  blows  of  a  hammer  upon  an  anvil."  Metaphor 
and  striking  compounds  are  freely  used,  and  there 
is  a  good  deal  of  \hakparallelism  which  is  so  marked 
a  feature  in  Hebrew  poetry,  in  which  the  thought  in 
the  first  case  is  repeated  in  the  second  with  slight 
modification.  Gradually  we  find  one  or  two  addi- 
tional accented  syllables^ntroduced,  and  the  unac- 
cented ones  arranged  with  greater  regularity,  and 
occasionally  towards  the  end  of  the  period  the  verses 
are  made  to  rhyme  together.  This  is  the  form  of 
Anglo-Saxon  and  Early  English  verse  from  the 
sixth  to  the  fourteenth  century,  and  even  later  ;  for 
although  the  influence  of  the  French  Trouveres  is 
discernible  in  the  poetry  of  the  thirteenth  century, 
all  the  peculiarities  of  the  old  verse  are  preserved 
in  Piers  the  Plwvman's  Vision,  written  by  Lang- 
lande  as  late  as  1362.  In  the  following  extract 


DEVELOPMENT  OF   VERSIFICATION.  257 

from  this  poem  some  idea  may  be  formed  of  the 
language  and  verse  under  consideration  : — 

I  was  e^eori  of  wandringe, 

And  went  me  to  reste 

Undur  a  3rod  <5anke 

Bi  a  bourne  syde  ; 

And  as  I  /ay  and  /eonede 

And  /okede  on  the  watres, 

I  j-lumberde  in  a  j-lepynge 

Hit  j-ownede  so  murie.     (11.  13 — 20.) 

In  the  first  period  of  our  literature,  from  A.D.  600     * 
to  1066,  which  is  known  as  Anglo-Saxon,  the  chief 
poetical  compositions,  all  of  which  were  upon  the 
model  described  above,  are  as  follows  :— 

(i)  Fragments  of  Gleemen's  Songs,  sung  by  wan- 
dering minstrels,  who  seem  to  have  been  true 
Bohemians,  from  warnings  issued  to  the  clergy 
against  them  by  King  Edgar. 

(ii)  The  Deeds  of  Beowulf,  an  epic  of  some  five  / 
thousand  lines.  It  was  probably  written  in  detached 
odes  in  the  fifth  century,  prior  to  the  conquest  of 
Britain,  and  afterwards  wrought  into  the  form  that 
has  come  down  to  us,  with  the  Christian  element 
introduced  about  the  eighth  century. 

(iii)  Caedman's  metrical  version  of  parts  of  the 
Old  and  New  Testament  history,  670.  This  is  the 
first  native-born  poem  in  the  language.  Bede  says 
of  it,  that  all  who  heard  it  recited  thought  it  was 
divinely  given. 

(iv)  A    fragment    of    the    story    of   Judith    and     , 
Holof ernes,  from  the  Apocrypha. 


258  OR  THOME  TR  Y. 

(v)  The  story  of  King  Lear  and  his  DattgJiters. 

(vi)  Th-e  Consolations  of  Boethius,  attributed  to 
King  Alfred. 

(vii)  Many  sea  and  battle  pieces.* 

When  the  Normans  subdued  our  forefathers  at 
Hastings,  1066,  and  made  themselves  lords  of 
Angle-land,  amongst  the  many  changes  introduced 
by  the  new  masters,  there  was  a  deliberate  attempt 
made  to  supersede  the  old  tongue  of  the  conquered 
people,  and  to  substitute  Norman-French  in  its 
stead.  The  latter  was  made  the  language  of  the 
court,  the  universities,  and  the  courts  of  law,  while 
Latin  was  the  tongue  of  the  Church,  and  of  all 
foreign  intercourse ;  but  although  this  effort  was 
persisted  in  for  two  hundred  years,  and  brought 
about  great  changes  in  the  vocabulary  and  infla- 
tion of  the  Old  English  speech,  it  remained  at  the 
end  of  that  time  substantially  as  Teutonic,  in  all 
its  main  features,  as  at  the  beginning.  The 
mightiest  conqueror  can  no  more  change  the  speech 
of  a  people  than  can  an  Act  of  Parliament  make 
them  moral.  Macaulay  has  pointed  out  that  King 
John  was  probably  the  first  monarch  after  the 
Conquest  that  conversed  in  the  vernacular,  and  that 
the  severance  of  the  French  possessions  from  the 
English  Crown,  which  took  place  in  his  reign,  was 
an  unmixed  blessing  to  the  English  nation,  inas- 

*  Great  attention  has  been  given  by  scholars  of  late  years  to  our  early 
poetry.  No  fewer  than  six  different  versions  of  Beowulf  have  appeared 
since  the  one  by  Kemble  in  1837,  the  last  being  by  Professor  Earle  in 
1892.  Copious  extracts  from  the  poems  mentioned  above,  as  well  as  other 
fragments,  are  to  be  found  in  the  works  of  Kemble,  Turner,  Thorpe, 
Conybeare,  and  Ellis.  An  exhaustive  treatise  on  our  early  poetry,  down 
to  the  accession  of  Alfred,  by  Stopford  A.  Brooke,  was  issued  Dec.,  1892. 


DEVELOPMENT  OF   VERSIFICATION.  259 

much  as  it  greatly  contributed  to  the  blending1  of 
the  two  races.  It  may,  however,  with  certainty  be 
said  that  by  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  century 
the  various  causes  that  had  long  been  at  work  in 
fostering  a  common  interest,  had  succeeded  in  amal 
gamating  the  conquerors  and  the  conquered  into 
one  great  nation,  speaking  that  marvellous  com- 
posite English  tongue  that  is  now  the  medium  of 
communication  in  every  part  of  the  civilised  world.* 

During  this  semi- Saxon  period,  1066 — 1400,  a 
time  of  unrest  and  turmoil,  there  was  a  dearth  of 
poetic  composition,  but  such  of  it  as  there  was  is 
native  born,  and  is  marked  by  all  the  chajcicteris- 
tics  mentioned  above  ;  the  foreign  influences  that 
were  at  work  hardly  affected  it  at  all.  The  chief 
poems  of  this  time  are — 

(i)  Layamoris  "Brut"  written  about  A.D.  1200. 
Although  it  is  a  metrical  adaptation  from  the  French 
of  Wacey  a  Norman  trouvere  of  the  legendary  his- 
tory of  the  early  British  kings,  it  has  not  more 
than  sixty  non-Saxon  words  in  all  its  thirty  thou- 
sand short  lines.  It  is  in  the  old  alliterative  metre, 
with  four  accents  and  occasional  rhymes. 

(ii)  The  Ormulum,  a  metrical  version  of  parts  of 
the  Gospels,  written  about  1215  in  seven-accent 
metre,  unrhymed.  In  the  portion  of  it  that  exists, 

*  This  is  not  the  place  to  enter  into  details  respecting  the  growth  and 
development  of  the  Queen's  English.  During  the  transition  period  we 
are  now  considering,  our  native  tongue  became  differentiated  into  three 
clearly  marked  dialects,  the  Northern,  the  Southern,  and  the  Midland 
while  the  upper  classes  spoke  and  wrote  in  Latin  and  French.  These 
'operated  in  a  variety  of  ways  upon  the  harsh,  uncouth  vernacular,  and 
when  in  the  long  run  the  masters  were  obliged  to  adopt  the  speech  of 
their  serfs,  it  was  the  Midland  dialect  that  they  assisted  in  polishing  into 
modern  English.  (See  Oliphant's  Standard  English.) 


2  60  OR  THOMETR  Y. 

about  twenty  thousand  lines,  there  are  a  few  newly 
introduced  Latin  ecclesiastical  terms,  but  not  more 
than  five  French  words,  and  the  arrangement  of  the 
words  is  not  very  unlike  the  English  of  to-day. 

(iii)  Piers  Plowman's  Vision,  1362,  alluded  to 
above,  is  an  allegory  of  deep  religious  feeling  and 
sentiment,  which  produced  a  profound  impression 
at  the  time,  as  it  appeared  while  the  country  was 
devastated  by  the  terrible  "  Black  Death."  There 
are  a  large  number  of  French  words  in  its  thirty 
thousand  lines,  but  it  adheres  to  the  Anglo-Saxon 
inflections,  which  had  already  begun  to  give  way, 
and  preserves  the  old  alliterative  form  of  verse.  It 
is  the  earliest  great  original  poem  that  we  possess 
in  English. 

Besides  these  three  important  poems  of  the  period, 
important  mainly  from  a  philological  point  of  view, 
there  were  numerous  translations  from  the  French 
romantic  poetry  which  dealt  chiefly  with  the  legends 
of  King  Arthur  and  Charlemagne.  In  these  we 
find  plainly  discernible  the  influence  of  the  speech 
of  the  upper  classes  upon  the  vernacular.  Many  of 
the  harsh-sounding  Saxon  words  began  to  dropout 
of  use,  and  more  euphonious  Romance  words  took 
their  place.  Alliteration  gradually  gave  way  to 
the  sweetness  of  rhyme,  and  as  this  required  words 
with  accent  at  the  end,  French  words  took  the 
place  of  Saxon  ones  that  bore  the  accent  on  the 
earlier  syllables.  In  translating  these  French 
romances  the  rhyming  words  were  ready  to  hand, 
and  on  this  account  alone,  hundreds  of  Romance 
words  were  grafted  upon  the  Teutonic  framework 


DEVELOPMENT  OF   VERSIFICATION.  261 

of  the  language.  In  proof  of  the  mixture  of  lan- 
guages in  use  about  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth 
century,  Gower  (1328 — 1408),  the  immediate  pre- 
decessor of  Chaucer,  wrote  his  three  important 
poems,  one  in  French,  one  in  Latin,  and  the  Con- 
fessio  Amantisvn.  English.  Our  native  tongue  was 
in  this  transition  state  when  Wiclif  and  Chaucer 
found  it ;  the  former's  prose  Translation  of  the  New 
Testament,  1384,  did  much  to  fix  it  in  its  present 
form,  but  it  was  the  latter's  masterly  hand  that 
polished  and  stamped  it  with  the  marks  of  perma- 
nency. By  his  judicious  selection  of  conflicting 
grammatical  forms,  and  the  blending  of  foreign  and 
native  words,  he  moulded  and  stereotyped  our 
tongue  into  that  English  which,  with  slight  modi- 
fications, we  speak  and  write  to-day. 

Chaucer  (1328  or  40  — 1400),  the  prince  of  story- 
tellers in  verse  and  the  '  Father  of  English  poetry/ 
was  well  fitted  to  weld  the  varied  elements  of  our 
mediaeval  tongue  into  harmonious  unity.  Fully  con  - 
versant  with  the  literature  of  Rome,  Italy,  and 
France,  he  was,  moreover,  a  typical  Englishman  of 
the  middle  class,  and  a  man  of  the  world.  His 
matchless  Canterbury  Tales  remained  for  two  hun- 
dred years  the  one  great  poem  of  the  language,  and 
is  still  unique  in  portraiture  of  character,  simple 
descriptive  beauty,  and  metrical  sweetness.  Nearly 
all  the  tales  are  composed  in  rhymed  heroics,  i.e.  in 
iambic  pentameter  arranged  in  continuous  couplets.* 

During  the  next  hundred  years,  embracing  the 
whole  of  the  fifteenth  century — the  period  of  the 

*  See  the  opening  lines  of  the  Prologue,  p.  113. 


262  OR  THOME  TR  Y. 

French  wars,  and  the  Wars  of  the  Roses— no  poet 
of  note  arose  in  England,  though  north  of  the 
Tweed  several  writers  kept  alive  the  roll  of  Eng- 
V  lish  verse  ;  the  Robin  Hood  ballads,  and  Chevy  Chase 
are  the  chief  native  productions.  In  the  early  part 
of  the  sixteenth  century  the  revival  of  classical  learn- 
ing and  the  study  of  Italian  models  rekindled  the 
poetic  instincts  of  young  England,  just  awakening 
into  intellectual  vigour.  The  Earl  of  Surrey  enlarged 
the  field  of  versification  by  the  introduction  of  the 
Sonnet*  form,  which  soon  became  a  general  favourite, 
and  by  composition  in  Blank  verse^  which  was 
quickly  developed  into  the  highest  form  of  poetic 
expression.  Sackville  at  once  introduced  it  into 
the  drama,  Marlowe  improved  it,  while  Shak- 
spere  and  Milton  used  it  with  a  perfection  never 
since  equalled. 

By  the  time  of  Shakspere  the  vocabulary  of 
our  language  had  greatly  changed  and  increased. 
About  one-fifth  of  the  old  English  words  had  become 
obsolete,  but  the  eight  or  ten  thousand  words  that 
constituted  our  speech  at  the  end  of  the  fourteenth 
century  had  grown  to  thirty  thousand.  Of  these 
our  great  dramatist,  to  express  his  all-embracing 
\  thoughts,  makes  use  of  about  fifteen  thousand, 
though  it  should  be  remarked  that  many  of  these, 
chiefly  of  Latin  origin,  occur  not  more  than  once  or 
twice.  No  succeeding  poet  has  approached  this 
exuberance  of  utterance. 

The  minor  poets  of  the  age  of  Shakspere  and 

*  For  a  full  account  of  the  Sonnet,  see  p.  203. 
f  See  p.  184. 


DEVELOPMENT  OF   VERSIFICATION,  263 

Milton,  in  their  lyrical  efforts  may  be  said  to  have 
rung  all  the  changes  of  metrical  combinations  pos- 
sible, and  to  have  well-nigh  exhausted  the  varieties 
of  rhythm  and  poetic  embellishment  of  which  our 
language  is  capable,  leaving  to  their  successors 
little  more  than  imitation  as  far  as  the  form  of 
verse  goes.  Dryden  and  Pope  smoothed  and 
polished  the  Heroic  measure  to  the  verge  of  mono- 
tony, and  since  their  time  but  little  originality  has 
been  possible  in  the  art  of  versification  beyond  the 
experiments  made  with  the  classic  metres.* 


*  See  p.  264.  Coleridge,  in  his  beautiful  fragment,  Christabel,  made  use 
of  what  he  terms  a  new  principle,  the  verse  consisting  of  lines  varying 
in  length  from  seven  to  twelve  syllables,  but  always  having  four  accents. 
There  is  nothing  strikingly  new  in  this  beyond  the  carrying  of  it  out 
systematically. 


CLASSICAL    METRES. 

THE  verse  of  the  Latin  and  Greek  poets  is  based 
upon  quantity,  and  its  structure  is  regulated  by  rules 
much  more  rigorous  than  the  easy  canons  of 
English  rhythm.  In  English  verse  time  is  an 
accessory  merely,  and  all  attempts  to  string  to- 
gether English  words  upon  that  basis  only  have 
resulted  in  what  is  neither  verse  nor  English,  for 
the  words  have  to  lose  their  proper  pronuncia- 
tion. Here  are  three  lines  of  English  words 
arranged  on  the  principle  of  the  Latin  hexameter 
by  Sir  Philip  Sidney  : 

That   to  my  j  advance     merit  their     wisdoms  |  have  me   a  j 

|  based  |  .— 
Well  may  a  |  pastor  |  plain ;  but  a  |  las  !  his  |  plaints  be"  not  | 

|  esteemed  |  . — 
Oppress'd  j  with  rum  |  cms  con  j  ceits  by  the  ]  aid   of  an  | 

|  outcry  |  . 

Spenser  made  similar  experiments,  and  with 
like  results.  William  Webbe,  who  wrote  a  "  Dis- 
course on  English  Poetry"  in  1586,  translated 
Virgil's  First  Georgic  into  hexameters,  but  with 
this  important  and  necessary  difference,  he  sub- 
stituted accent  for  quantity.  If  this  be  done 
some  approach  to  metrical  effect  may  be  attained,  as 


CLASSICAL  METRES.  265 

will  be  seen  later  on.  An  hexameter  verse  consists 
of  six  feet,  dactyls  and  spondees  intermixed,  and 
no  others  ;  the  number  of  syllables  varies  from 
seventeen  to  thirteen,  and  the  beats  are  six,  though 
one  may  be  weak.  A  Latin  word  may  have 
two,  three,  or  four  consecutive  long  syllables, 
whereas  English  words  have  very  rarely  more 
than  one  syllable  accented.  It  is  therefore  a 
difficult  thing  to  construct  a  succession  of  perfect 
hexameter  lines  of  English  words  without  the 
skilful  use  of  monosyllables.  And  when  lines  so 
constructed  are  read  aloud  all  trace  of  quantity 
dis£ippears,  and  the  metrical  accent  is  given  to  such 
of  the  long  syllables  as  subserve  the  rhythmic  effect, 
i.e.  the  spondees  are  turned  into  iambs  or  trochees 
at  will. 

Of  our  modern  poets  Cowper  and  Southey  were 
the  first  to  experiment  with  the  Classic  metres — 
of  course  on  the  basis  of  accent,  not  quantity — and 
Coleridge,  Arnold,  Whewell,  and  Tennyson  have 
amused  themselves  by  making  English  hexameters 
and  pentameters.  Kingsley's  Andromeda,  a  poem 
of  some  five  hundred  lines,  is  in  hexameters,  and 
so  are  Longfellow's  Evangcline,  and  Courtship  of 
Miles  Standish.  Evangeline  is  the  only  really  suc- 
cessful production  of  the  kind.  Dr.  Whewell  has 
translated  some  of  Schiller's  poems  into  Elegiacs, 
in  imitation  of  Ovid,  and  LongfellowT  has  framed 
original  verses  in  the  same  measure.  Cowper, 
Southey,  and  Canning  have  imitated  Horace's 
Sapphics,  while  Tennyson  has  tried  his  hand  upon 
Alcaics  and  Hendecasyllabics.  It  would  be  well, 


266 


OR  THOME  TRY. 


however,  to  regard  all  such  attempts  to  introduce 
exotics  like  these  into  our  verse  as  mere  literary 
amusements  and  curiosities. 

Here  are  the  schemes  of  these  various   metres, 
with  examples  of  each. 


1.— HEXAMETERS. 


Fair  was    she  |  to  be  j  hold,  that      maiden  of     seventeen  | 

|  summers  ; 
Black  were  her     eyes  as  the  [  berry  that  |  grows  on  the  j  thorn 

by  the  J  wayside — 
Black,  yet  how  j  softly  they  |  gleamed  be  |  neath  the  brown 

|  shade  of  her  |  tresses  ! 
Sweet  was  her  |  breath  as  the  |  breath  of    kine  that  j  feed  in 

the  |  meadows. 

Evangeline. 

Fasting  in  |  sackcloth  and  |  ashes  they  |  came,  both  the  \  king 

and  his  \  people, 
Cametothe     mountain  of  j  oaks,  to  the  [  house  of  the  j  terrible  | 

sea  gods. 

Andromeda. 


2.— PENTAMETERS. 


These  lame     hexam  |  eters  the  \  strong  winged  |  music  of  | 

Homer ! 

No — but  a  |  most  bur    lesque  ||  barbarous     experi  j  ment. 
When  was  a  |  harsher  |  sound  ever  |  heard,  ye  |  Muses  of  | 

England  ? 

When  did  a    frog  coarser  |  croak  ||  upon     our  Heli  |  con  ? 

Ten  nyson. 


CLASSICAL  METRES. 


267 


Come,  all  ye  j  weary  and  |  worn,  ye  |  heavily  |  laden  and  | 

i  sighing— 

Come  ye,  oh,     come  ye  to     Christ  II — Saviour,  j  Comforter,  j 
I  King. 

F.  B.  R. 


3.— SAPPHICS. 


Thrice  repeated,  followed  by 


Man  disa     vows  and     Dei  |  ty  dis  |  owns  me ; 
Hell  might     afford     my  miser  |  ies  a  j  shelter, 
Therefore  [  hell  keeps  |  her  ever  |  hungry  |  mouths  all 
Bolted  a  |  gainst  me. 

Cowper. 

Cold  was  the  j  night  wind,      drifting  |  fast  the  |  snow  fell, 
Wide  were  the  |  downs  and  |  shelter  j  less  and  j  naked, 
When  a  poor  j  wand'rer  |  struggled     on  her  |  journey 
Weary  and  |  way  sore. 

Southey. 
"  The  Widow." 

The  two  following  stanzas  are  from  the  Anti- 
Jacobin,  in  parody  of  Southey's  matter  and 
manner : 


Needy  |  knife  grind     er,  whither  |  are  you  j  going  ? 
Rough  is  |  the  road,  |  your  wheel  is  |  out  of  |  order : 
Bleak  blows  |  the  blast —  |  your  hat  has  |  got  a  |  hole  in't, 
So  have  your  |  breeches. 


*  The  dactyl  and  trochee  in  the  first  and  third  foot  respectively  would 
be  inadmissible  in  classic  verse.  The  specimens  are  scanned  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  give  them  every  chance  of  being  considered  rhythmical. 


268  OR  THOME  TR  Y. 

I  give  |  thee  six  |  pence  !  I  will  j  see  thee  j  hanged  first, — 
Wretch  whom   |   no   sense  1  of  wrongs   can   |  rouse  to  | 

|  vengeance,— 

Sordid,  |  unfeel  j  ing,  repro  |  bate,  de     graded, 
Spiritless  outcast ! 

Canning. 


4-— ALCAICS. 

-  i  -  I  -       -i  -       -I 

Repeated  and  followed  by 


O  might  |  y  mouth'd  |  in  |  ventor  of  |  harmonies, 
O  skilled  j  to  sing  |  of  j  Time  or  E  |  ternity, 
God  gift  |  ed  or  |  gan  voice  |  of  Eng    land, 
Milton  a  |  name  to  re  |  sound  to     ages. 

Tennyson. 


IMITATIVE  HARMONY. 

True  ease  in  writing  comes  from  art,  not  chance, 

As  those  move  easiest  who  have  learned  to  dance. 

'Tis  not  enough  no  harshness  gives  offence  ; 

The  sound  must  seem  an  echo  to  the  sense. 

Soft  is  the  strain  when  Zephyr  gently  blows, 

And  the  smooth  stream  in  smoother  numbers  flows ; 

But  when  loud  surges  lash  the  sounding  shore, 

The  hoarse  rough  verse  should  like  the  torrent  roar. 

When  Ajax  strives  some  rock's  vast  weight  to  throw, 

The  line  too  labours,  and  the  words  move  slow ; 

Not  so  when  swift  Camilla  scours  the  plain, 

Flies  o'er  the  unbending  corn,  and  skims  along  the  main. 

IN  this  oft-quoted  passage  from  the  Essay  on 
Criticism  Pope  sounds  the  note  of,  and  attempts  to 
illustrate,  what  is  known  as  "  Imitative  Harmony  " 
in  language,  by  which  is  meant  a  resemblance,  real 
or  fancied,  that  the  sounds  of  words  bear  to  the 
sense  they  convey. 

The  Onomatopcetic,  or  "  Bow-wow  "  theory  of  the 
origin  of  language,  is  no  longer  seriously  held  by 
any  philological  authority,  but  at  the  same  time  the 
mimetic  origin  of  a  large  number  of  words  is 
undoubted.  Such  forms,  for  instance,  as  coo,  hiss, 
bump,  thud,  smash,  pop,  bang,  crash,  whizz,  buzz,  stun, 
tingle,  chatter,  squeak,  murmur,  scream,  gurgle,  hoivl, 


270  OR  THOMETR  Y. 

faibble,  and  a  host  of  others,  exhibit  a  correspond- 
ence between  sound  and  sense  which  is  unmis- 
takable. As  language  is  made  up  of  sounds 
which  are  more  or  less  expressive  of  actions  and 
things,  we  need  not  wonder  that  poets  especially, 
whose  chief  concern  is  with  the  form  and  dress  of 
their  thoughts,  should  avail  themselves  of  any  such 
correspondence  between  their  ideas  and  expres- 
sions as  could  enhance  the  impressiveness  of  their 
verses.  Much  has  been  written  upon  this  subject 
both  in  ancient  and  modern  times,  and  many  fruit- 
less attempts  have  been  made  to  show  that  there 
may  be  an  actual  resemblance  between  the  rhythm 
of  verse  and  the  things  described  ;  but  it  will  be 
found,  after  a  careful  examination  of  the  most 
noted  experiments  that  have  been  made,  that  a 
general  suitableness  of  diction,  and  a  pleasing 
assistance  which  the  similarity  of  sound  gives  to 
the  sense,  are  all  that  have  been  really  accom- 
plished. This,  however,  is  quite  enough  to  induce 
writers  of  verse  to  avail  themselves  of  such  limited 
embellishment  as  this  Imitative  Harmony  affords. 

Two  famous  examples  of  this  sound  and  sense 
resemblance  have  often  been  quoted,  the  one  from 
Homer: 


A.VTIQ  'cTmra  irk^ov^t  KV\iv5iro  Xaaf  'avaidiji;  — 

the  other  from  Virgil  : 

Quadrupedante  putrem  sonitu  quatit  ungula  Campum  : 

the  first  describing  a  heavy  stone  rolling  down  a 
mountain  side  ;  the  second,  the  hoofs  of  a  horse 


IMITATIVE  HARMONY.  271 

galloping  over  a  hardened  plain.  Now  the  sounds 
of  these  two  movements  would  be,  of  course,  quite 
dissimilar,  yet  the  rhythm  of  the  verses,  which  is 
supposed  to  imitate  them,  is  exactly  the  same.  If, 
then,  the  one  is  to  be  praised  for  its  imitative  truth- 
fulness, what  can  we  say  of  the  other?  Pope's 
adaptation  of  the  Greek  passage  describing  the 
labour  of  Sisyphus  is  well  worth  quoting  : 

With  many  a  weary  step,  and  many  a  groan, 

Up  the  high  hill  he  heaves  a  huge  round  stone  ; 

The  huge  round  st6ne  resulting  with  a  bound, 

Thunders  impetuous  down,  and  smokes  along  the  ground. 

Up  to  the  middle  of  the  third  line  we  have  the  slow 
laboured  motion  upward  imitated,  and  then  the 
rapid,  impetuous  downward  roll. 

In  the  well-known  couplet  from  the  passage  at 
the  beginning  of  this  chapter  : 

When  Ajax  strives  some  rock's  vast  weight  to  throw, 
The  line  too  labours  and  the  words  move  slow, — 

we  have  slowness  of  motion  expressed  by  a  slow 
succession  of  syllables,  each  of  the  two  lines 
having  six  accents,  one  more  than  the  usual 
number ;  but  when  we  come  to  consider  the  next 
couplet : 

Not  so  when  swift  Camilla  scours  the  plain, 

Flies  o'er  the  unbending  corn,  and  skims  along  the  main. 

we  are  somewhat  disappointed  in  what  is  intended 
to  represent  swift  and  rapid  motion  ;  for,  in  fact, 
we  have  the  full  number  of  accents  and  rather 


272  OR  THOME  TR  Y. 

more  than  the  usual  number  of  long  syllables. 
Dr.  Johnson  is  rather  severe  upon  this  and  other 
instances  of  a  similar  character :  he  says,  "  The 
desire  of  discovering  frequent  adaptations  of  the 
sound  to  the  sense  has  produced,  in  my  opinion, 
many  wild  conceits  and  imaginary  beauties."  And 
then  he  adds,  "When  Pope  had  enjoyed  for  thirty 
years  the  praise  of  Camilla's  lightness  of  foot,  he 
tried  another  experiment  upon  sense  and  sound, 
and  produced  this  memorable  triplet : 

'  Waller  was  smooth,  but  Dryden  "taught  to  join 
The  varying  verse,  the  full  resounding  line, 
The  long  majestic  march,  and  energy  divine.' 

Here  are  the  swiftness  of  the  rapid  pace,  and  the 
march  of  slow-paced  majesty  exhibited  by  the 
same  poet  in  the  same  sequence  of  syllables,  except 
that  the  exact  prosodist  will  find  the  line  of  swift- 
ness by  one  time  longer  than  that  of  tardiness"* 
What  he  here  criticises  in  Pope,  he  praises  un- 
grudgingly in  a  passage  from  Cowley  : 

He  who  defers  his  work  from  day  to  day, 

Does  on  a  river's  bank  expecting  stay 

Till  the  whole  stream  that  stopp'd  shall  be  gone, 

Which  runs,  and  as  it  r mis,  for  ever  shall  nut  on. 

He  declares  the  last  line  to  be  "an  example  of 
representative  versification  which  perhaps  no 
other  English  line  can  equal." 

Enough  has  perhaps  been  said  to  show  that  the 
actual  correspondence  between    sense  and  sound, 

*  Johnson's  "  Life  of  Pope." 


IMITATIVE  HARMONY. 

in  even  the  most  noted  examples  of  it,  is  more 
fanciful  than  real.  Still  there  can  be  no  question 
that  the  skilful  grouping  and  management  of 
sounds  in  poetry  may  greatly  contribute  to  the 
sensuousness  of  description  and  the  appropriate- 
ness of  the  rhythm.  This  is  plainly  discernible  in 
some  at  least  of  the  following  examples.  In 
Hamlet  (v.  2),  the  Prince  conjures  his  friend 
Horatio,  who  was  desirous  of  dying  with  him,  still 
to  live.  His  words  are : 

If  ever  thou  didst  hold  me  in  thine  heart, 

Absent  thee  from  felicity  awhile, 

And  in  this  harsh  world  draw  thy  breath  in  fiain, 

To  tell  my  story. 

The  composition  of  the  third  line  is  remarkable, 
for  it  is  clogged  with  consonants,  and  the  aspirate, 
and  the  hissing  s ;  and  all  the  syllables  but  one 
are  long,  either  by  quantity  or  position ;  i.e.  two 
consonants  following  the  vowel.  By  this  artificial 
structure,  the  utterance  of  the  verse  is  made  to 
resemble  the  sense,  for  it  does  not  admit  of  a  quick 
or  easy  pronunciation. 

In  Henry  IV.y  part  I.  iii.  i,  Glendower  translates 
his  daughter's  wishes  to  her  husband  Mortimer  in 
these  words : 

She  bids  you 

Upon  the  wanton  rushes  lay  you  down, 
And  rest  your  gentle  head  upon  her  lap, 
And  she  will  sing  the  song  that  pleaseth  you, 
And  on  your  eyelids  crown  the  god  of  sleep, 
Charming  your  blood  with  pleasing  heaviness, 


274  OR  THOME  TR  Y. 

Making  such  difference  betwixt  wake  and  sleep, 
As  is  the  difference  betwixt  day  and  night, 
The  hour  before  the  heavenly-harness'd  team 
Begins  his  golden  progress  in  the  east. 

The  most  obvious  character  of  these  lines  is 
their  monotonous  flow,  which,  if  they  had  been 
upon  a  different  subject,  would  have  been  a  fault ; 
but  in  this  case  it  was  designed.  They  \vere 
framed  to  run  evenly  and  uniformly  along ;  that 
being  the  most  proper  movement  to  accompany 
and  express  their  meaning,  which  is  an  invitation 
to  rest  and  sleep.  The  author,  to  attain  his 
purpose,  has  separated  all  the  lines,  except  the 
eighth,  by  a  stop  at  the  end  of  each.  This  alone 
was  enough  to  produce  monotony  ;  but  beside 
this,  the  single  pause  which  he  has  admitted  into 
every  line  is  generally  in,  or  near,  the  middle  of  it : 
then,  the  feet  are  all  such  as  contribute  to  smooth 
versification.  There  is  not  one  foot  of  two  accented 
syllables  ;  on  the  contrary,  some  are  unaccented  ; 
but  by  far  the  greatest  number  are  regular;  i.e. 
accented  on  the  second  syllable.  By  these  means 
the  verses  have  the  expression  which  Shakspere 
undoubtedly  designed  to  give  them. 

In  Dryden's  tragedy  of  Edipus  there  is  a  verse 
which  we  look  upon  as  expressing  very  happily  the 
sense  by  the  measure :  but  whether  so  or  not,  the 
verse  is  eminently  beautiful.  The  speaker  announces 
the  death  of  a  person  whose  days  had  run  on  to 
a  great  length, 

Till,  like  a  clock,  worn  out  with  eating  time, 
The  wheels  of  weary  life  at  last  stood  still. 


IMITATIVE  HARMONY.  275 

The  first  four  feet  of  this  line,  being  pure  iambics, 
proceed  regularly  and  evenly  on  till  they  are  con- 
trasted by  the  fifth,  which  is  admirably  composed 
to  represent,  by  its  consonants,  short  vowels,  and 
accents,  the  stop  and  ceasing  of  the  motion. 
Change  the  order  of  words  thus  : 

The  wheels  of  weary  life  stood  still  at  last, 

and  the  expression  is  lost ;  so  it  would  be  if  the 
vowels  in  the  last  foot  were  long. 

The  contrast,  in  Milton's  description,  of  the 
opening  of  the  gates  of  Heaven  and  of  Hell  is  very 
remarkable : 

Heaven  opened  wide 

Her  ever-during  gates,  harmonious  sound, 
On  golden  hinges  turning. 

On  a  sudden  open  fly, 
With  impetuous  recoil  and  jarring  sound, 
The  infernal  doors  ;  and  on  their  hinges  grate 
Harsh  thunder. 

Keats  describes  the  gliding  motion  of  the  clouds 
by  the  use  of  liquid  consonants  : 

And  let  the  clouds  of  even  and  of  morn 
Float  in  voluptuous  fleeces  o'er  the  hills. 

And  the  soothing  nature  of  a  lullaby  is  expressed 
by  Shakspere  in  a  similar  way : 

Philomel  with  melody 
Sing  in  one  sweet  lullaby  ; 
Lulla,  lulla,  lullaby. 


276  OR  THOME TR  Y. 

The  sound   of  battle  in  the  old  modes  of  warfare 
is  represented  thus : 

Arms  on  armour  clashing,  brayed 
Horrible  discord;  and  the  maddening  wheels 
Of  brazen  fury  raged. 

Unwieldy  bulk  and  shape  is  depicted  by  Milton  in 
these  words : 

O'er  all  the  dreary  coasts 

So  stretched  out,  huge  in  length,  the  arch-fiend  lay. 
But  ended  foul,  in  many  a  scaly  fold, 
Voluminous  and  vast. 

Pope  imitated  heaven's  artillery  by  the  skilful  use 
of  two  words  : 

If  nature  thundered  in  our  opening  ears 
And  stunned  us  with  the  music  of  the  spheres. 

Here  are  further  instances  of  this  attempted  sound 
word-painting : 

Disparting  towers, 

Tumbling  all  precipitate  down-dashed, 
Rattling  around,  loud  thundering  to  the  moon. 

Dyer. 

Deep  echoing  groan  the  thickets  brown 
Rustling,  crackling,  crashing,  thunder  down. 

Pope. 

The  ice  was  here,  the  ice  was  there, 

The  ice  was  all  around, 
It  cracked  and  growled,  and  roared  and  howled 

Like  noises  in  a  swound. 

Coleridge. 

No  modern  poet  is  more  conspicuously  ingenious 
in  this  kind  of  word-painting  than  Tennyson.     He 


IMITATIVE  HARMONY.  277 

pictures  the  roaring  of  the  seas  by  the  reiteration 
of  the  letter  r : 

Those  wild  eyes  that  watch  the  wave, 
In  roarings  round  the  coral  reef ; 

the  sense  of  chill  cheerlessness  by  such  harsh 
rhythm  as : 

And  ghastly  through  the  drizzling  rain 
On  the  bald  street  breaks  the  bleak  day. 

The  effect  of  varied  sounds  and  movements  is 
picturesquely  given  in  two  stanzas  from  the  Dream 
of  Fair  Women  : 

Her  slow  full  words  sank  thro'  the  silence  drear, 

As  thunder  drops  fall  on  a  sleeping  sea  ; 
Sudden  I  heard  a  voice  that  cried,  "  Come  here, 

That  I  may  look  on  thee." 

***** 

She  locked  her  lips  ;  she  left  me  where  I  stood  : 
"  Glory  to  God,"  she  sang,  and  past  afar, 

Thridding  the  sombre  boskage  of  the  wood, 
Toward  the  morning  star. 

The  description  of  Arthur  leaving  Guinevere  pre- 
sents a  picture  of  such  a  masterly  adaptation  of 
word  and  figure  to  the  sense  as  cannot  be  surpassed 
in  the  whole  range  of  English  poetry  : 

And  more  and  more, 

The  moony  vapour  rolling  round  the  king 
Who  seemed  the  phantom  of  a  giant  in  it, 
Enwound  him  fold  by  fold,  and  made  him  gray 
And  grayer,  till  himself  became  a  mist 
Before  her,  moving  ghostlike  to  his  doom. 

Tennyson. 
"  Idylls  of  the  King." 


278  OR  THOME  TR  Y. 

The  subject  may  be  fittingly  closed  by  examples 
from  Southey's  How  the  Water  comes  dozvn  at  Lodore 
and  Poe's  Bells. 

And  thumping  and  plumping,  and  bumping  and  jumping, 
And  dashing  and  flashing,  and  splashing  and  clashing, 

And  so  never  ending, 

And  always  descending, 
Sounds  and  motions  for  ever  and  ever  are  blending, 

All  at  once  and  all  o'er 

With  a  mighty  uproar ; 
And  this  way  the  water  comes  down  at  Lodore. 

Southey. 

Hear  the  sledges  with  the  bells — 

Silver  bells ! 

What  a  world  of  merriment  their  melody  foretells  ! 
How  they  tinkle,  tinkle,  tinkle, 

In  the  icy  air  of  night ! 
While  the  stars  that  oversprinkle 
All  the  heavens  seem  to  twinkle 
With  a  crystalline  delight ; 
Keeping  time,  time,  time, 
In  a  sort  of  Runic  rhyme, 

To  the  tintinnabulation  that  so  musically  wells 
From  the  bells,  bells,  bells,  bells, 

Bells,  bells,  bells— 

From  the  jingling  and  the  tinkling  of  the  bells. 
*  *  *  *  * 

Hear  the  loud  alarum  bells — 

Brazen  bells  ! 

What  a  tale  of  terror  now  their  turbulency  tells  ! 
In  the  startled  ear  of  night 
How  they  scream  out  their  affright ! 
Too  much  horrified  to  speak, 
They  can  only  shriek,  shriek, 
Out  of  tune, 


IMITATIVE  HARMOXY.  2J() 

In  a  clamorous  appealing  to  the  mercy  of  the  fire, 
In  a  mad  expostulation  with  the  deaf  and  frantic  fire, 
Leaping  higher,  higher,  higher, 
With  a  desperate  desire, 
And  a  resolute  endeavour, 
Now — now  to  sit  or  never 
By  the  side  of  the  pale-faced  moon. 
Oh  the  bells,  bells,  bells, 
What  a  tale  their  terror  tells 

Of  despair ! 

How  they  clang,  and  clash,  and  roar  ! 
What  a  horror  they  outpour 
On  the  bosom  of  the  palpitating  air. 
Yet  the  ear  it  fully  knows, 

By  the  twanging, 
And  the  clanging, 
How  the  danger  ebbs  and  flows  ; 
Yet  the  ear  distinctly  tells, 

In  the  jangling, 
And  the  wrangling, 
How  the  danger  sinks  and  swells, 
By  the  sinking  or  the  swelling  in  the  anger  of  the  bells  ; 

Of  the  bells— 
Of  the  bells,  bells,  bells,  bells, 

Bells,  bells,  bells,  bells, 
In  the  clamour  and  the  clangour  of  the  bells. 

Poe, 


BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

WORKS   ON  VERSIFICATION. 

IN  this  chapter  the  attention  of  the  student  will  be 
directed  to  what  has  been  written  upon  the  subject 
of  verse  and  poetic  criticism,  since  the  rise  of  the 
Gay  Science  towards  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury. It  does  not  aim  at  furnishing  an  exhaustive 
list  of  such  works,  but  it  will  be  found  sufficiently 
comprehensive  to  guide  the  reader  who  wishes  to 
advance  beyond  an  elementary  knowledge  of  the 
subject.  And  as  the  older  works  are  difficult  of 
access,  more  copious  extracts  from  them  are  given, 
although  many  of  the  views  there  expressed  have 
long  since  been  abandoned. 

The  first  English  writer*  that  occurs  to  notice  is 
William  Webbe,  who  published  a  Discourse  of 
English  Poetry  in  1586.  It  was  written  "to  stirre 
up  some  other  of  meete  abilitie  to  bestow  travell 
on  the  matter."  In  that  discourse,  after  treating 
of  poetry  in  general,  he  singles  out  Spenser  from 
the  English  poets  for  his  especial  commendation, 
and  takes  the  Shepherd's  Calendar  published,  about 

*  Our  King  James  I.  published  in  Scotland,  in  1584,  "  Ane  schort 
Treatise,  containing  some  reulis  and  cautelis  to  be  observit  and  eschewit 
in  Scottis  Poesie." 


BIBLIOGRAPHY.  281 

seven  years  before  (but  which,  it  seems,  had  not 
been  owned  by  him),  for  the  subject  of  his  remarks 
on  English  Versification.  He  says,  "  Of  the  kinds 
of  English  verses  which  differ  in  number  of  sylla- 
bles, there  are  almost  infinite.  To  avoid  therefore 
tediousness,  I  will  repeat  only  the  different  sorts  of 
verses  out  of  the  Shepherd's  Calendar,  which  may 
well  serve  to  bear  authority  in  this  matter. 

"  There  are  in  this  work  twelve  or  thirteen  sundry 
sorts  of  verses,  which  differ  either  in  length,  or 
rhyme,  or  distinction  of  the  staves."  Having 
quoted  several  passages  to  prove  this  assertion,  he 
adds,  "  I  shall  avoid  the  tedious  rehearsal  of  all 
the  kinds  which  are  used,  which  I  think  would 
have  been  impossible,  seeing  they  may  be  altered 
to  as  many  forms  as  the  poets  please  :  neither  is 
there  any  tune  or  stroke  which  may  be  sung  or 
played  on  instruments,  which  hath  not  some 
poetical  ditties  framed  according  to  the  numbers 
thereof." 

But  notwithstanding  this  abundant  variety,  our 
author  was  one  of  those  who  fancied  that  English 
poetry  would  be  greatly  improved  by  adopting 
Greek  and  Latin  measures,  and  composing  in 
hexameter,  pentameter,  sapphic,  and  other  ancient 
forms.  It  was  a  project  that  had  already  been  set 
on  foot  by  some  of  high  literary  reputation ;  and 
he  endeavoured  to  advance  it  by  his  advice  and 
example.  He  was  aware,  indeed,  of  the  objection 
"  that  our  words  are  nothing  resemblant  in  nature 
to  theirs,  and  therefore  not  possible  to  be  framed 
with  any  good  grace  after  their  use ;"  but  this  he 


282  OR  THOME  TR  Y. 

proposed  to  surmount,  by  "  excepting  against  the 
observance  of  position,  and  certain  other  of  their 
rules."  Still  there  remained  various  difficulties; 
and  it  is  amusing  to  hear  him  relate  his  distress, 
when  composing  in  the  new  fashion,  "he  found 
most  of  our  monosyllables  to  be  long,"  when,  to 
serve  his  purpose,  they  should  have  been  short :  he 
wanted  "some  direction  for  such  words  as  fall  not 
within  the  compass  of  Greek  or  Latin  rules,  and 
thereof  he  had  great  miss."  He  was  forced  "  to 
omit  the  best  words,  and  such  as  would  naturally 
become  the  speech  best,"  to  avoid  breaking  his 
Latin  rules.  Under  all  these  discouragements, 
however,  he  translated  two  of  Virgil's  Eclogues 
into  English  hexameters,  and  transformed  a  part 
of  the  Shepherd's  Calendar  into  sapphics ;  and 
these  pieces  make  a  conspicuous  portion  of  his 
book. 

The  next  was  George  Gascoigne,  an  eminent 
poet  of  the  same  age.  He  included  Certain  Notes  of 
Instruction  concerning  the  making  of  Verse  or  Rhyme 
in  English  in  an  edition  of  his  works  published  in 
1575,  and  again  in  1587.  This  sensible  treatise, 
by  one  who  was  a  poet  himself,  is  certainly  one  of 
the  earliest  attempts  in  our  language  to  establish 
fixed  rules  for  the  modulation  of  verse.  It  is  con- 
cise ;  the  conclusions  are  neither  singular  nor 
forced,  and  though  from  the  dates  the  whole  might 
be  expected  to  have  acquired  an  obsolete  character, 
it  still  retains  such  a  just  proportion  of  fact  with 
the  precepts  forming  a  close  alliance  to  the  natural 
order  of  our  language,  that  while  we  hesitate  to 


BIBLIOGRAPHY.  283 

recommend  anything  shaped  like  trammels  for 
genius,  the  reading  of  these  notes  may  be  suggested 
as  instructive,  if  not  of  advantage  to  poetical  com- 
position. 

The  more  remarkable  passages  in  Gascoigne's 
work  are  these.  He  speaks  of  no  other  feet,  as 
entering  into  verse,  than  those  of  two  syllables  ;  of 
which,  says  he,  "  the  first  is  depressed,  or  short ; 
the  second,  elevate,  or  long."  He  gives  rules  for 
rhyming  and  for  finding  a  rhyme.  Concerning 
the  admission  of  polysyllables  into  verse,  he  gives 
this  direction — "  I  warn  you  that  you  thrust  as  few 
words  of  many  syllables  into  your  verse  as  may 
be ;  and  hereunto  I  might  allege  many  reasons : 
first,  the  most  ancient  English  words  are  of  one 
syllable  ;  so  that  the  more  monosyllables  you  use, 
the  truer  English  you  shall  seem,  and  the  less  you 
shall  smell  of  the  inkhorn.  Also,  words  of  many 
syllables  do  cloy  a  verse,  and  make  it  unpleasant."* 
Respecting  the  caesura,  or  pause  in  a  verse,  he 
observes  that  "  in  lines  of  eight  syllables  it  is 
best  in  the  middle,  as : 

Amid  my  bale  |  I  bathe  in  bliss. 
In  lines  of  ten  syllables,  after  the  fourth,  as  : 
I  smile  sometimes,  |  although  my  grief  be  great. 

In  those  of  twelve  syllables,  in  the  middle ;  and  in 
those  of  fourteen,  after  the  eighth,  as  : 

*  There  are  two  critics  of  later  times  who  have  given  their  judgment 
upon  the  use  of  polysyllables  in  English  verse,  to  which  allusion  has 
already  been  made.  Of  these,  one  is  directly  opposed  to  Gascoigne,  the 
other  agrees  with  him,  and,  upon  the  whole,  appears  to  be  right. 


284  OR  THOME  TR  Y. 

Divorce  me  now,  good  death,  |  from  love  and  lingering  life  ; 
That  one  hath  been  my  concubine,  |  that  other  was  my  wife.* 

"  Lines  of  twelve  and  fourteen  syllables  alter- 
nate," says  he  (i.e.  such  as  the  last  here  quoted), 
"  is  the  commonest  sort  of  verse  which  we  use  now- 
adays.'* 

But  a  more  celebrated  work  on  the  subject,  was 
a  regular  treatise,  on  the  Art  of  English  Poesy, 
published  in  1589,  but  written  some  time  before, 
by  Puttenham.  He  says  he  writes  it  "to  help  the 
courtiers  and  the  gentlewomen  of  the  court  to 
write  good  poetry,  that  the  art  may  become  vulgar 
for  all  Englishmen's  use."  This  author  was  of  a 
different  opinion  from  Webbe  in  respect  to  the 
introduction  of  Greek  and  Latin  measures  into 
English  poetry  ;  and  he  says,  with  good  judgment, 
thus  :  "  Peradventure  with  us  Englishmen  it  may 
be  somewhat  too  late  to  admit  a  new  invention  of 
feet  and  times  that  our  forefathers  never  used,  nor 
never  observed  till  this  day,  either  in  their  mea- 
sures or  their  pronunciation :  and  perchance  will 
seem  in  us  a  presumptuous  part  to  attempt ;  con- 
sidering also  it  would  be  hard  to  find  many  men 
to  like  of  one  man's  choice  in  the  limitation  of 
times  and  quantities  of  words ;  with  which  not 
one,  but  every  ear  is  to  be  pleased  and  made  a 
particular  judge ;  it  being  most  truly  said,  that  a 
multitude  or  commonalty  is  hard  to  please,  and 
easy  to  offend/'  In  conclusion,  he  condemns  this 
sort  of  versification  as  a  frivolous  and  ridiculous 
novelty.  But,  although  in  this  particular  he  mani- 

*  These  examples  are  taken  from  his  own  poems. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY.  285 

fested  his  good  sense,  in  some  other  points  he  fell 
in  with  the  whimsical  fancies  of  his  time ;  such  as 
making  poems  in  the  shape  of  altars,  pyramids, 
and  the  like. 

.  He  who  shall  peruse  Puttenham  may  collect 
from  him  some  information  concerning  the  state 
of  poetry  in  his  day ;  and  may  understand  what 
kind  of  verse  was  censured  or  praised,  and  what 
degree  of  estimation  former  English  poets  were 
then  held  in,  but  he  must  not  expect  much  instruc- 
tion upon  the  art  itself.  Warton*  says  of  this 
book,  that  it  remained  long  as  a  rule  of  criticism. 

Another  work  was  published  in  1602,  with  this 
title,  "  Observations  in  the  Art  of  English  Poesie,  by 
Thomas  Campion.  Wherein  it  is  demonstratively 
proved,  and  by  example  confirmed,  that  the  English 
tongue  will  receive  eight  several  kinds  of  numbers 
proper  to  itself;  which  are  all  in  this  book  set 
forth,  and  were  never  before  this  time,  by  any  man, 
attempted."  Campion  was  a  poet  and  physician 
during  part  of  the  reigns  of  Queen  Elizabeth  and 
King  James  :  he  was  also  a  composer  of  music,  and 
his  acquaintance  with  the  latter  art  appears  by 
some  remarkable  passages  in  his  book.  The  eight 
several  kinds  of  numbers  which  he  mentions  are 
to  be  understood,  not  of  feet,  nor  yet  altogether 
of  verses  taken  singly,  but,  some  of  them,  of  com- 
binations of  verses  and  stanzas.  He  has,  indeed. 
a  chapter  on  "  English  numbers  in  general/'  by 
which  he  means  the  feet  admissible  into  English 

*  Warton's  "  History  of  English  Poetry,"  vol.  ii.  10. 


2  86  OR THOMETR  Y. 

poetry ;  and  he  reduces  them  to  two,  as  being 
essential,  and  giving  character  and  name  to  two 
different  species  of  verse,  viz.  the  iambic  and 
the  trochee,  of  which  he  gives  this  strange  account, 
that  it  "  is  but  an  iambic  turned  over  and  over." 

Campion  might  have  shown,  even  from  his  own 
poetry,  that  our  language  can  receive  other  num- 
bers than  he  has  enumerated  ;  but  his  book  con- 
tains little  that  is  new  or  extraordinary,  except 
that  the  poetical  part  is  all  in  blank  verse,  and  that 
he  wishes  to  discard  entirely  from  our  poetry  what 
he  is  pleased  to  call  "  the  fatness  of  rhyme ;"  which 
brought  forth  an  answer  from  a  writer  of  a  superior 
order  to  Campion,  both  in  verse  and  prose. 

This  was  Samuel  Daniel,  who,  in  1603,  wrote  a 
Defence  of  Rhyme,  against  Campion's  "  Observa- 
tions," "  wherein  is  demonstratively  proved,  that 
rhyme  is  the  fittest  harmony  of  words  that  comports 
with  our  language."  This  is,  indeed,  asserted; 
but  in  proofs  and  demonstration,  he  falls  as  short 
as  his  antagonist.  Of  him  he  says  :  "  This  detractor 
is  a  man  of  fair  parts,  and  good  reputation,  and 
therefore  the  reproach  forcibly  cast  from  such  a 
hand  may  throw  down  more  at  once  than  the 
labours  of  many  shall  in  long  time  build  up  again. 
We  could  well  have  allowed  of  his  numbers,  if  he 
had  not  disgraced  our  rhyme,  which  both  custom 
and  nature  doth  most  powerfully  defend  ;  custom 
that  is  above  all  law,  nature  that  is  above  all  art. 
Our  rhyme  is  likewise  number  and  harmony  of 
words,  consisting  of  an  agreeing  sound  in  the  last 
syllables  of  several  verses,  giving  both  to  the  ear 


BIBLIOGRAPHY.  287 

an  echo  of  a  delightful  report,  and  to  the  memory 
a  deeper  impression  of  what  is  delivered  therein ; 
for  as  Greek  and  Latin  verse  consists  of  the  number 
and  quantity  of  syllables,  so  doth  the  English  verse 
of  measure  and  accent ;  and  though  it  doth  not 
strictly  observe  long  and  short  syllables,  yet  it 
most  religiously  respects  the  accent ;  and  as  the 
short  and  the  long  make  number,  so  the  acute  and 
grave  accent  yield  harmony,  and  harmony  is 
likewise  number :  so  that  the  English  verse  then 
hath  number,  measure,  and  harmony,  in  the  best 
proportion  of  music.  But  be  the  verse  never  so 
good,  never  so  full,  it  seems  not  to  satisfy  nor 
breed  that  delight,  as  when  it  is  met  and  com- 
bined with  a  like  sounding  accent ;  which  seems 
as  the  jointure,  without  which  it  hangs  loose,  and 
cannot  subsist,  but  runs  wildly  on,  like  a  tedious 
fancy,  without  a  close."  Having  thus  defended 
the  use  of  rhyme,  he  proceeds  in  a  similar 
strain  against  the  rest  of  Campion's  book, 
asserting  "that  of  all  his  eight  several  kinds  of 
new  promised  numbers,  we  have  only  what  was 
our  own  before ;"  such  as  have  ever  been  familiarly 
used  among  us  ;  and  the  like  of  his  other  positions. 
He  expresses  a  wish,  however,  "  that  there  were 
not  that  multiplicity  of  rhymes  as  is  used  by  many 
'  in  sonnets ;"  he  acknowledges,  "  that  to  his  own 
ear,  those  continual  cadences  of  couplets  used  in 
long  and  continued  poems  are  very  tiresome  and 
unpleasing ;"  and  he  confesses  that  his  "  adversary 
had  wrought  so  much  upon  him,  as  to  think  a 
tragedy  would  best  comport  with  a  blank  verse, 


288  OR  THOME  TR  Y. 

and  dispense  with  rhyme,  saving  in  the  chorus,  or 
where  a  sentence  shall  require  a  couplet/'  He 
says  too,  that  he  thinks  it  wrong  to  mix  uncertainly 
feminine  rhymes  with  masculine;*  which,  ever 
since  he  was  warned  of  that  deformity  by  a  kind 
friend,  he  had  always  so  avoided,  as  that  there  are 
not  above  two  couplets  in  that  kind  in  all  his  poem 
of  the  Civil  Wars  ;  that  he  "  held  feminine  rhymes 
to  be  fittest  for  ditties,  and  either  to  be  certain,  or 
set  by  themselves."  The  opinions  of  Daniel  are 
more  particularly  noticed  here,  because  his  versifi- 
cation is  equal  to  the  best  of  his  times. 

Another  poet,  who  valued  himself  upon  his  skill 
in  numbers,  viz.  Cowley,  may  be  joined  with  these 
authors;  not  indeed  for  any  formal  work  upon  the 
subject,  but  for  certain  notes  made  by  him  upon 
his  own  verses.  The  purport  of  those  notes  is  to 
inform  his  readers  that  the  verses  are  intended  and 
framed  to  represent  the  things  described  by  their 
imitative  harmony.  In  his  preface  he  expresses 
himself  thus  respecting  the  odes  which  he  calls 
pindaric  :  "  The  numbers  are  various  and  irregular, 
and  sometimes  (especially  some  of  the  long  ones) 
seem  harsh  and  uncouth,  if  the  just  measures  and 
cadences  be  not  observed  in  the  pronunciation. 
So  that  almost  all  their  sweetness  and  numerosity 

•  *  The  terms  masculine  and  feminine,  as  applied  to  verse,  are  taken 
from  the  French,  and  signify — the  first,  rhymes  of  one  syllable — the 
other,  of  two,  which  we  now  call  double  rhymes ;  and  of  which  this 
character  of  King  John,  from  the  First  Book  of  his  Civil  Wars,  is  an 
example : 

A  tyrant  loath'd,  a  homicide  con  vented, 
Poison'd  he  dies,  disgraced,  and  unlamented. 

By  rhymes  uncertainly  mixed,  he  means  introduced  irregularly;  not 
recurring  in  the  stanzas  at  set  distances,  which  he  calls  certain. 


BIBLIO  GRAPHY.  289 

(which  is  to  be  found,  if  I  mistake  not,  in  the 
roughest,  if  rightly  repeated)  lies  in  a  manner 
wholly  at  the  mercy  of  the  reader.  I  have  briefly 
described  the  nature  of  these  verses  in  the  ode 
entitled  The  Resurrection  ;  *  and  though  the  liberty 
of  them  may  incline  a  man  to  believe  them  easy  to 
be  composed,  yet  the  undertaker  will  find  it  other- 
wise. 

In  1679,  Samuel  Woodford,  D.D.,  published  a 
Paraphrase  on  the  Canticles,  and  Hymns ;  and  in 
the  preface  made  certain  observations  on  the 
structure  of  English  verse,  which  are  mentioned, 
not  so  much  for  anything  remarkable  in  his  criti- 
cism, as  for  his  high  commendation,  at  the  period, 
of  Milton's  Paradise  Lost  ;  though  he  would  rather 
"  it  had  been  composed  in  rhyme"! 

About  the  same  time  another  work  came  out, 
comprising  some  principles  of  versificatior,  together 
with  an  assistance  towards  making  English  verse. 
The  title  was  the  English  Parnassus,  or  a  Help  to 
English  Poesie  ;  containing  a  collection  of  all  the 
rhyming  monosyllables,  the  choicest  epithets  and 
phrases,  with  some  general  forms  upon  all  occa- 

*  The  passage  in  the  Ode  on  the  Resurrection,  to  which  he  refers, 
is  this : 

Stop,  stop,  my  Muse,  allay  thy  vigorous  heat, 

Kindled  at  a  hint  so  great; 

Hold  thy  Pindaric  Pegasus  closely  in. 

Which  does  to  rage  begin, 

And  this  steep  hill  would  gallop  up  with  violent  course  : 

'Tis  an  unruly  and  a  hard-mouth'd  horse, 

Fierce  and  unbroken  yet, 

Impatient  of  the  spur  or  bit : 

Now  prances  stately,  and  anon  flies  o'er  the  place  ; 

Disdains  the  servile  law  of  any  settled  pace  ; 

Conscious  and  proud  of  his  own  natural  force : 

'Twill  no  unskilful  touch  endure, 

But  flings  writer  and  reader  too  that  sits  not  sure. 

U 


2  90  OR  THOME  TR  3  '. 

sions,  subjects  and  themes,  alphabetically  digested ; 
together  with  a  short  institution  to  English  Poesie, 
by  way  of  preface.  The  author  was  Joshua  Poole, 
M.A.,  of  Clare  Hall,  Cambridge ;  but  it  was  a 
posthumous  publication.  The  preface  is  subscribed 
J.  D. ;  it  contains  no  matter  worthy  of  particular 
notice  ;  and  for  the  book  itself,  it  is  sufficiently 
detailed  by  the  title. 

This  work  appears  to  have  been  the  foundation 
of  another,  built  on  the  same  plan,  but  considerably 
enlarged.  The  author  was  Edward  Bysshe,  who, 
in  1702,  published  an  Art  of  English  Poetry.  The 
part  relating  to  prosody  is  contained  in  three 
chapters,  under  these  heads  :  "  Of  the  structure  of 
English  verses. — Of  rhyme. — Of  the  several  sorts 
of  poems  and  compositions  in  verse."  His  manner - 
of  treating  these  topics  is  plain,  but  neither  metho- 
dical nor  comprehensive ;  it  presents,  however, 
some  useful  information,  and  though  perhaps  no 
versifier  of  the  present  day  may  seek  from  this 
author  "  Rules  for  making  English  Verse"  (for  so 
he  entitles  this  portion  of  his  volume),  it  continued 
for  above  half  a  century  to  be  a  popular  book.  It 
also  provided  a  further  help  to  verse-makers,  by  a 
plentiful  magazine,  or  Dictionary  of  Rhymes.  The 
bulk  of  his  performance  was  made  up  of  a  "  Col- 
lection of  the  most  natural,  agreeable,  and  noble 
Thoughts,  &c.  that  are  to  be  found  in  the  best 
English  poets  "  ;  but  if  the  execution  of  this  part  be 
compared  with  the  promise  of  its  title,  he  will  be 
found  to  deserve  little  commendation.  The  number 
of  poets  from  whom  he  professes  to  have  formed 


BIBLIOGRAPHY.  2  9 1 

his  selection,  are  forty-three.  Of  these,  more  than 
a  third  part  are  either  men  of  no  name,  as  Stone- 
street,  Stafford,  Harvey,  or  of  no  distinguished 
reputation  in  poetry,  as  Walsh,  Tate,  Stepney, 
Dennis,  and  others.  Then  the  selection  is  made 
so  unequally,  that  three  of  his  number,  viz.  Cowley, 
Butler's  Hudibras,  and  Dryden,  have  furnished 
him  with  at  least  three-fifths  of  the  whole.  Indeed 
he  appears  to  have  had  very  little  knowledge  of 
our  poets,  even  of  those  who  lived  and  wrote  but 
fourscore  years  before  himself.  Ellis,  in  his  Speci- 
mens of  the  Early  English  Poets,  has  given  extracts 
from  upwards  of  forty  authors  in  the  reigns  of 
Charles  the  First  and  Second,  not  one  of  whom  is 
mentioned  in  Bysshe's  catalogue.  Here  is  another 
proof  of  the  same :  he  affirms  that  "  we  have  no 
entire  works  composed  in  verses  of  twelve  sylla- 
bles ;"  he  must  therefore  have  been  unacquainted 
with  Drayton. 

Not  long  after  Glover's  Leonidas  appeared,  Dr. 
Pemberton,  a  great  friend  of  the  author,  published 
Observations  on  Poetry,  especially  epic,  occasioned 
by  the  late  poem  on  Leonidas,  1738.  The  versifi- 
cation of  that  poem  is  very  regular :  and  the  design 
of  the  observations,  in  part,  is  to  justify  and  extol 
that  regularity  ;  which,  in  an  instance  or  two,  is 
done  without  foundation.  The  sixth  section  of  the 
Observations  is  upon  the  principles  of  verse  ;  and 
here  his  singular  notions,  and  the  severe  rules  he 
would  establish,  might  startle  and  discourage  a 
young  poet.  He  disallows  all  licence,  all  irregu- 
larity. He  asserts  that  no  irregular  composition 


2Q2  OR  THOME  TR  Y. 

of  feet  is  by  any  means  necessary  towards  that 
variety  which  is  required  in  the  longest  work. 
With  the  same  rigour  he  pronounces  upon  the  last 
syllables  of  verses :  and  commends  Glover  for 
closing  his  lines  with  a  firm  and  stable  syllable, 
which,  he  says,  is  necessary  to  support  the  dignity 
of  the  verse,  and  which  Milton  designedly  neglected. 
The  lines  he  means  are,  in  Glover,  such  as  these : 

Rehearse,  O  Muse,  the  deeds  and  glorious  death 
Of  that  fam'd  Spartan,  who  withstood  the  power. 

Leon.  b.  i. 

And  of  the  contrary  sort,  in  Milton,  such  as  this  : 

Here  swallow' d  up  in  endless  misery. 

Paradise  Lost,  b.  i. 

A  close  of  the  line,  which,  had  he  thought  it 
negligent,  or  wanting  dignity,  he  would  not  have 
admitted  so  frequently,  much  less  three  times  to- 
gether, as  in  this  instance : 

And  all  who  since,  baptized  or  infidel, 
Jousted  in  Aspramont,  or  Montalban, 
Damasco,  or  Morocco,  or  Trebisond. 

Paradise  Lost,  b.  i. 

The  foregoing  censure  on  Milton  may  warrant 
the  mention  here  (though  not  exactly  in  chrono- 
logical order)  of  Tyrwhitt's  Essay  on  the  Versifica- 
tion of  Chaucer,  \vhich  contains  much  learned  re- 
search into  the  nature  and  origin  of  our  poetical 
measures ;  but  which,  in  regard  to  the  structure  of 
our  verse,  advances  some  positions  that  are  very 
questionable,  to  say  the  least  of  them  ;  as  in  this 
passage :  "  on  the  tenth  or  rhyming  syllable,  a 


BIBLIOGRAPHY.  293 

strong  accent  is  in  all  cases  indispensably  re- 
quired ;  and  in  order  to  make  the  line  tolerably 
harmonious,  it  seems  necessary  that  at  least  two 
more  of  the  even  syllables  should  be  accented,  the 
fourth  being  (almost  always)  one  of  them.  Milton, 
however,  has  not  subjected  his  verse  even  to  these 
rules ;  and  particularly,  either  by  negligence  or 
design,  he  has  frequently  put  an  unaccented  syl- 
lable in  the  fourth  place."  *  To  make  this  state^- 
ment  respecting  Milton  is  to  show  very  little  atten- 
tion to  his  manner  of  versification  ;  and  to  put  it 
as  a  doubt  whether  he  did  not,  through  negligence, 
set  an  unaccented  syllable  in  the  fourth  place  of 
his  line,  is  to  doubt  whether  he  was  not  grossly 
negligent  in  that  point  throughout  his  poem ;  since 
he  has  done  so  no  less  than  three  times  within  the 
first  seven  lines : 

Of  man's  first  disobedience,  and  the  fruit 
Of  that  forbidden  tree,  whose  mortal  taste 
Brought  death  into  the  world  and  all  our  woe, 
With  loss  of  Eden,  till  one  greater  man 
Restore  us,  and  regain  the  blissful  seat, 
Sing,  heavenly  Muse,  that  on  the  secret  top 
Of  Oreb,  or  of  Sinai,  &c. 

Again,  to  affirm  that  "  a  strong  accent  is  in  all 
cases  indispensably  required  on  the  rhyming  syl- 
lable," is  to  condemn  the  practice  of  our  most 
correct  and  approved  authors.  Pope,  without 
scruple,  admitted  an  unaccented  syllable  to  rhyme : 
for  instance, 

%    *  See  Paradise  Lost,  book  iii.  36,  586;  book  v.  413,  750,  874.     Essay, 
p.  62. 


294  OR  THOME  TR  Y. 

Useless,  unseen,  as  lamps  in  sepulchres. 

"  Elegy  on  an  Unfortunate  Lady" 

And  swell  the  pomp  of  dreadful  sacrifice. 
"  Eloisa  to 


\ 


That  guilt  is  doomed  to  sink  in  infamy. 

'  '  Essay  on  Satire." 

-So  that,  should  we  submit  to  Tyrwhitt's  authority, 
we  must  renounce  some  of  the  most  established 
and  allowed  licences,  if  they  are  so  to  be  called, 
in  English  versification. 

Foster,  in  his  celebrated  Essay  on  Accent  and 
Quantity,  wrote  two  chapters  on  English  prosody  ; 
and  the  mention  of  them  is  introduced  here,  not 
for  any  material  information  which  they  will  afford 
to  the  reader,  but  rather  to  caution  him  against 
trusting  to  what  is  there  said  upon  the  subject. 

The  treatise  on  Painting  and  Poetry  r,  by  Webbe, 
deserves  notice,  as  well  for  some  judicious  remarks 
on  our  poetical  measures,  as  for  directing  the 
public  attention  to  Shakspere's  skill  and  excel- 
lence in  them. 

To  the  end  of  the  last  century  there  still  remain 
a  few,  whom  it  will  be  sufficient  to  specify  by  their 
names  and  the  titles  of  their  books.  These  are  — 
Tucker  (under  the  name  of  Edward  Search)  on 
Vocal  Sounds,  1773;  Walker's  Rhyming  Diction- 
ary, 1775;  Steel's  Prosodia  Rationalis,  1779;  Dr. 
Trussler's  Dictionary  of  Rhymes,  1783. 

The  same  subject  has  employed  the  pens  of 
certain  writers  in  the  northern  part  of  our  island, 


BIBL1OGRA  PR  Y.  295 

who  are  by  no  means  to  be  omitted  ;  for  they  are 
all  men  of  high  rank,  and  (with  one  exception) 
would  form  a  catalogue  of  Royal  and  Noble 
Authors.  They  are  King  James  the  Sixth  of 
Scotland ;  the  lords  Kaimes  and  Monboddo ; 
Dr.  Beattie  ;  and  Lord  Glenbervie  :  not  that  they 
challenge  our  notice  by  their  rank,  but  by  the 
merit  of  their  writings.  The  first,  by  his  "  Reulis 
and  Cautelis  to  be  observit  and  eschewit  in  Scottis 
Poesie  ;"  the  second,  by  his  Elements  of  Criticism  ; 
the  third,  by  his  volumes  on  the  Origin  and  Pro- 
gress of  Language  ;  Dr.  Beattie  by  his  Essays  ;  and 
lastly,  Lord  Glenbervie,  by  the  Notes  on  his  spirited 
translation  of  the  Poem  of  Ricciardetto. 

During  the  present  century,  and  especially  within 
the  last  thirty  years,  the  study  of  the  art  of  versi- 
fication and  of  poetry  generally  has  vastly  in- 
creased, and  has  attracted  the  attention  of  some  of 
the  first  scholars  of  the  day.  New  editions  of  all 
our  chief  poets  are  produced  year  after  year,  and 
find  increasing  demand.  Societies  have  been 
formed  to  advance  the  study  of  Chaucer,  Shakspere, 
Shelley  and  the  early  English  writers,  and  at  length 
English  poetry  is  a  recognised  subject  of  study  and 
repetition  in  every  course  of  national  instruction. 

A  list  of  the  chief  writers  upon  the  subject 
during  the  present  century,  here  given,  will  fitly 
conclude  this  treatise. 

Mitford,  "  Enquiry  into  the  Principles  of  Harmony  in 
Language  and  of  the  Mechanism  of  Verse"  (1804);  Okell, 
"  Essay  on  the  Elements,  Accents,  and  Prosody  of  the  English 
Language  "(  1805) ;  Haslewood,  "Art  of  English  Poesy" 


296  OR  THOME  TR I '. 

(1815) ;  Carey,  "  Practical  English  Prosody  and  Versification" 
(1816);  Crowe,  "Treatise  on  English  Versification"  (1827); 
Dr.  Guest,  "History  of  English  Rhythms"*  (1838);  A.  J. 
Ellis,  "  Essentials  of  Phonetics  "  (1847) ;  A.  J.  Ellis,  "  Early 
English  Pronunciation,"  Part  III.  (1869) ;  W.  Sydney  Walker, 
"Versification  of  Shakspere"  (1854);  Marsh,  "Lectures  on 
the  English  Language "  (Murray,  1863)  ;  Bain,  "  English 
Composition  and  Rhetoric  "  (Longmans,  1866  ;  enlarged 
edition,  1888);  R.  F.  Brewer,  "Manual  of  English  Prosody" 
(Longmans,  1869);  E.  Wadham,  "English  Versification" 
(Longmans,  1869);  Dr.  Abbott,  "  Shaksperian  Grammar" 
(Macmillan)  ;  Abbott  and  Seeley,  "  English  Lessons  for 
English  People  "  (Parts  II.  and  III.) ;  J.  J.  Sylvester,  F.R.S., 
"The  Laws  of  Verse,  or  Principles  of  Versification,  Exem- 
plified in  Metrical  Translations  "  (Longmans,  1870)  ;  Dr. 
Longmuir,  Preface  to  the  Later  Editions  of  Walker's 
"Rhyming  Dictionary";  Torn  Hood,  "Rules  of  Rhyme,  a 
Guide  to  Versification,  with  a  compendious  Dictionary  of 
Rhymes  "  (1877)  ;  Dowden,  "  Shakspere  Primer  "  (Mac- 
millan, 1877)  ;  Angus,  "  Handbook  of  English  Literature 
and  of  the  English  Tongue  "  ;  Gilbert  Conway,  "  Treatise 
on  Versification"!  (Longmans,  1878);  Ruskin,  "Elements 
of  English  Prosody,"  for  use  in  St.  George's  School  (1880); 
Sydney  Lanier,  "  The  Science  of  English  Verse"  (New  York, 
1880);  Dr.  Schipper,  "  Englische  Metrik"  (Bonn,  1882) ;  Canon 
Daniel,  "  Grammar,  &c.,  of  the  English  Language,"  Part  IV., 
(1883);  "  Geo.  H.  Brown,  "Notes  on  Shakspere's  Versifi- 
cation" (Boston,  1884);  C.  Witcomb,  "The  Structure  of 
English  Verse  "  (1884);  J.  B.  Mayor,  "Chapters  on  English 
Metre  "  J  (1886) ;  E.  C.  Stedman,  "  The  Nature  and  Elements 
of  Poetry"  (Cent.  Mag:,  Mar.-Oct.,  1892). 

*  A  work  of  great  research  and  a  storehouse  of  examples,  but  his 
theories  as  to  the  structure  of  modern  verse  are  erroneous  and  im- 
practicable. 

f  A  scholarly  and  original  work,  but  lacking  method  and  arrange- 
ment. The  notes  fill  up  as  much  space  as  the  text. 

•  {  A  masterly  argumentative  treatise  on  the  subject  of  metre,  in  which 
the  d  priori  theories  of  Dr.  Guest  and  Dr.  Abbott  are  successfully 
demolished,  and  what 'may  be  called  the  common-sense  method  of 
scanning  is  vindicated. 


A 
RHYMING    DICTIONARY. 


INTRODUCTION. 


THE  lists  of  words  comprising  the  Rhyming  Dictionary 
annexed  have  been  compiled  with  care  and  method.  They 
are  not  a  reprint,  slightly  altered,  of  any  existing  work  of 
the  same  kind,  but  the  result  of  a  new  and  comprehensive 
overhauling  of  our  English  vocabulary,  with  a  view  to  the 
selection  of  nearly  all  words  suitable  for  Verse-Making  at 
the  end  of  the  nineteenth  century.  The  collection  will  be 
found  to  be  more  complete  and  varied  than  any  that  the 
compiler  has  been  able  to  consult ;  while  its  improved 
arrangement  will  tend  to  facilitate  reference. 

Rhyme  depends  upon  similarity  of  sound  only,  the  spelling 
of  the  words  being  of  no  consequence :  thus,  curl,  pearl, 
whirl,  rhyme  perfectly,  as  do  also  laugh,  staff,  photograph ; 
whereas  bough,  cough,  dough,  stand  in  no  harmonious  relation 
to  each  other  whatever.  The  words  in  this  dictionary, 
therefore,  are  classed  together  as  to  their  ending  sounds 
only,  and  must  be  looked  for  under  the  letters  that  most 
plainly  represent  the  sound :  e.g.  labour  and  saviour  will 
be  found  under  OR ;  pious,  harmonious,  and  the  like,  under 
US  ;  coalesce,  effervesce,  under  ES,  &c.  Copious  references, 


300  DICTIONARY  OF  RHYMES. 

however,   are  given   throughout   to   lists   that   nearly  cor- 
respond with  each  other. 

Under  each  heading  the  list  of  words  printed  in  ordinary 
type,  which  has  been  made  as  complete  and  suggestive 
as  possible,  rhyme  perfectly,  or  very  nearly  so,  with  each 
other;  and  they  are  arranged  alphabetically,  and  in  the 
order  of  the  number  of  their  syllables.  At  the  end  of  these, 
printed  in  italics,  a  few  typical  words  are  given  which  rhyme 
more  or  less  imperfectly  with  the  normal  sound  of  the 
heading ;  but  no  attempt  has  been  made  to  assist  the 
student  to  find  words  that  he  ought  to  do  his  utmost 
to  avoid.  Examples  of  licences  in  rhyme  taken  by  our 
standard  poets  are  introduced  here  and  there;  but  these 
should  be  regarded  by  the  modern  versifier  as  models  to 
shun,  for  the  most  part,  rather  than  to  imitate.  These, 
when  given,  will  be  found  amongst  the  foot-notes. 

Single  rhymes  only  are  given  ;  the  inclusion  of  double  and 
triple  rhymes  would  have  swelled  this  part  of  the  volume 
out  beyond  due  limits,  without  corresponding  advantage. 
Besides,  double  rhymes  can  be  easily  constructed  from  the 
single  ones,  inasmuch  as  they  are  nearly  all  derivative 
words  formed  from  nouns,  verbs,  and  adjectives  by  the 
suffixes  er,  es,  est,  ing,  less,  ness,  and  ly.  The  same  remark 
applies  to  most  words  which  end  in  e  mute,  preceded  by 
the  liquid  /,  i.e.  to  words  in  ble,  cle,  and  die,  and  also  to 
that  numerous  class  of  nouns  ending  in  ion,  very  few  of 
which  find  place  here.  Other  omissions,  which  have  been 
made  to  keep  the  book  within  reasonable  limits,  may  be 
pointed  out,  such  as  the  plurals  of  nouns,  the  participles 
and  gerunds  of  verbs,  and  all  unemphatic  monosyllables 
which  ought  never  to  conclude  a  rhyming  verse.  Instead 


INTR  OD  UCTION.  3  O I 

of  lists  of  such  words,  their  fitness  is  indicated  by  the 
phrase  " also  the  preterites  of  verbs  in  ick"  &c.  No  word 
is  repeated  on  account  of  its  several  acceptations ;  but  in 
those  few  cases  in  which  a  word  has  two  different  sounds 
as  well  as  different  meanings,  as  bow,  for  shooting,  bow, 
a  salutation,  it  is  given  in  each  list. 

Proper  names  *  both  of  persons  and  places,  are  omitted 
for  obvious  reasons. 

It  has,  however,  been  deemed  desirable,  in  a  few  cases, 
to  discriminate,  with  greater  precision  than  usual,  between 
sounds  that  closely  assimilate ;  hence  double  lists  of  words 
in  EW,  OW,  IVE,  OVE,  and  Y,  &c.  are  given. 

Some  few  obsolete  and  provincial  words,  as  well  as  a 
sprinkling  of  slang  terms  that  are  current  and  unobjection- 
able, have  been  inserted,  as  English  rhymesters  can  ill 
afford  to  reject  any  material  that  is  at  all  suitable  to  their 
purpose.  In  many  such  cases,  however,  it  has  been  deemed 
fit  to  add  short  notes  of  explanation,  or  credentials  of 
respectability.  Space  has  been  found  also  for  a  limited 

*  The  vagaries  of  pronunciation,  troublesome  enough  in  ordinary 
words,  become  absolutely  bewildering  in  proper  names,  a  few  instances  of 
which  are  subjoined  : — 

Beauchamp  (beecham).  Dillwyn  (dillon). 

Belvoir  (bever).  Knollys  (nowls). 

Caius  (kees).  Leveson  (lewson). 

Cholmondeley  (chumley).  St.  John  (sin/on). 

Colquhoun  (cohooti).  Wemyss  (weems). 

It  seems  to  be  an  inalienable  right  in  every  man  to  pronounce  his  name 
as  he  likes.  If  Mr.  Smith  wishes  to  call  himself  Smythe,  there  is  no 
power  on  earth  to  prevent  him.  In  fact,  he  can  go  much  farther  than  this 
and  change  his  name  altogether  with  very  little  trouble— as  a  Mr.  Bug  did 
some  years  ago  by  advertising  in  The  Times  that  henceforth  he  desired  to 
be  known  as  Mr.  Norfolk-Howard  !  A  curious  instance  of  the  uncertainty 
of  the  sound  of  proper  names  is  furnished  by  the  word  Ralph.  Not  very 
long  ago  a  lady  visitor  at  Aldworth,  Tennyson's  seat,  had  occasion  to  use 
the  word  several  times,  and  pronounced  is  as  rhyming  with  safe.  Tenny- 
son insisted,  with  some  vigour,  that  it  should  be  sounded  as  half.  "  But 
why,"  a  gentleman  of  that  name  might  ask,  "  should  I  be  done  out  of 
my  I?" 


302  DICTIONARY  OF  RHYMES. 

number  of  technical  and  foreign   words   with   which   most 
Englishmen  are  familiar." 


*  Mr.  W.  S.  Gilbert,  writing  some  time  ago  in  a  humorous  letter  to  the 
Dramatic  Review  on  the  paucity  of  rhymes  in  our  tongue,  says,  "  I  should 
like  to  suggest  that  any  inventor  who  is  in  need  of  a  name  for  his  invention 
would  confer  a  boon  on  all  rhymsters,  and  at  the  same  time  ensure  him- 
self many  gratuitous  advertisements  if  he  were  to  select  a  word  that 
rhymes  to  one  of  the  many  words  in  common  use  that  have  very  few 
rhymes  or  none  at  all.  A  few  more  words  rhyming  to  love  are  greatly 
wanted.  Revenge  and  avenge  have  no  rhyme  but  Penge  and  Stonehenge  ; 
coif  has  no  rhyme  at  all.  Starve  has  no  rhyme  except  ( O  irony ! )  carve. 
Scarf  has  no  rhyme,  though  I  fully  expect  to  be  told  that  laugh,  ca//and 
half  are  admissible — which  they  certainly  are  not.  Scalp  has  no  rhyme 
but  A  lp  ;  false  has  none — valse  is  near  it,  but  the  French  accent  disqualifies 
it ;  waltz  is  also  near  it,  but  the  t  spoils  it.  Gamboge  has  no  rhyme  but 
rouge.  Tube  would  be  rhymeless  but  for  cube  and  jujube.  Fugue-  has  no 
rhyme  at  all,  nor  has  gulf,  unless  we  fall  back  on  Cardinal  Pandulph,  and 
Ulf  the  minstrel.  Azimuth  has  only  doth." 


DICTIONARY   OF   RHYMES. 


A  compare  ER,  OR 

asthma 

aurora 

comma 

chimera 

dogma 

cupola 

drama 

dahlia 

era 

dilemma 

gala 

duenna 

hydra 

flotilla 

polka 

formula 

sofa 

fuchsia 

stanza 

gondola 

stigma 

gorilla 

strata 

iota 

villa 

madonna 

vista 

nebula 

agenda 

orchestra 

algebra 

regatta 

area 

sepia 

arcana 

siesta 

armada 

sonata 

aroma 

umbrella 

veranda 

ambrosia 

anathema 

camelia 

cyclopedia 

dyspepsia 

effluvia 

euthanasia 

extravaganza 

fantasia 

hysteria 

inertia 

influenza 


blab 
cab 
crab 
dab 


neuralgia 

panacea 

panorama 

parabola 

paraphernalia 

paranomasia 

phenomena 

regalia 

sciatica 

taffeta 

terracotta 

walhalla 


AB 

drab 
gab 
knabf 
scab 


*  This  has  become  almost  a  vulgarism,  but  has  been  employed  by  some 
of  our  best  writers. 

The  secret  man  heareth  many  confessions  ;    for  who  will  open  himself 
to  a  blab  or  babbler  ? — Bacon. 

Sorrow  nor  joy  can  be  disguised  by  art ; 
Our  foreheads  blab  the  secrets  of  our  heart. — Dryden. 
When  my  tongue  blabs,  then  let  my  eyes  not  see. — Shakspere. 
f  An  obsolete  form  of  nab,  to  gnaw,  seize  with  the  teeth. 

I  had  much  rather  lie  knabbing  crusts,  without  fear,  than  be  mistress  of 
the  world  with  cares. — L'Estr.ange. 


304 


DICTIONARY  OF  RHYMES. 


slab 
stab 
tab 


back 

black 

brach  f 

brackj 

clack 

crack 

hack 

knack 

lac 

lack 

pack 

plaque 

quack 


habnab 
babe 


AC,  ACK 

rack  § 

sac 

sack 

slack 

smack 

snack  || 

stack 

tack 

thwack  ^[ 

track 

whack 

wrack 

arrack 


attack 
lilac 
nick-nack 
almanac 
cardiac 

symposiac 
aphrodisiac 
dypsomaniac 
hypocondriac 
salammoniac 

celiac 
iliac 

opaque 
break 

maniac 

take 

zodiac 

neck 

demoniac 
elegiac 

speak 

ACE** 

ace 

chase 

base 
brace 

dace 
face 

case 

grace 

*  A  vulgarism,  contracted  from  hap-ne-hap,  let  it  happen  or  not ;  at  ail 
risks  ;  at  the  mercy  of  chance. 

Cursed  be  they  that  build  their  hopes  on  haps. — Sidney. 
f  A  bitch  hound — still  current  in  the  Eastern  counties. 
Truth's  a  dog  that  must  to  kennel ;  he  must  be  whipped  out,  while  Lady, 
the  brach,  may  stand  by  the  fire  and  stink. — Shakspere. 
I  Obsolete.   A  flaw,  a  crack. 

A  brack  in  the  stuff. — Beaumont  and  Fletcher. 

§  In  addition  to  the  many  ordinary  meanings  of  this  word,  it  is  used 
vulgarly  for  wreck,  in  the  phrase  rack  and  ruin ;  and  is  also  cognate  with 
reek,  vapour,  mist. 

The  clouds  above  which  we  call  the  rack. — Bacon. 
Leave  not  a  rack  behind. — Shakspere. 

||  A  colloquialism  from  snatch, — a  slight  hasty  meal ;  a  share  ;  to  go 
shares,  to  go  snacks. 

1[  A  vulgarism. 

With  many  a  stiff  thwack,  many  a  bang, 
Hard  crab-tree  and  old  iron  rang. — Hudibras. 

We'll  thwack  him  hence  with  distaffs.— Shakspere. 

*  Then  gladly  turning  sought  his  ancient  place, 
And  passed  a  life  of  piety  and  peace. — Parnell. 

By  a  stream  side,  on  the  grass : — 

On  her  shining  hair  and  face. — E.  B.  Browning. 

All  its  allotted  length  of  days, 
i    The  flower  ripens  in  its  place. — Tennyson. 

From  belt  to  belt  of  crimson  seas — 

A  hundred  spirits  whisper,  "  Peace." — Tennyson. 


DICTIONARY  OF  RHYMES. 


305 


lace 

horserace 

ACT 

mace 
pace 
place 
plaice 
race 

misplace 
necklace 
outface 
outpace 
replace 

act 
fact 
fract 
pact 
tact 

impact 
infract 
protract 
react 
refract 

space 
trace 
abase 

retrace 
solace 
surface 

tract 
attract 
co-act 

retract 
diffract 
subact 

aggrace  * 
apace 
birthplace 
debase 
deface 

terrace 
unlace 
interlace 
populace 
grass 

compact 
contact 
contract 
detract 
abstract 

subtract 
transact 
cataphract  J 
cataract 
counteract 

disgrace 
displace 
efface 
embrace 

cease 
less 
daze 
scarce  f 

distract 
enact 
epact 
exact 

incompact 
precontract 
re-enact 
.       batfd 

grimace 

extract 

rak'd,  &*c. 

Also  the 

preterites  of  verbs  in 

ack,  as  tack'd 

ACH 

,  ATCH 

AD 

batch 

snatch 

add 

plaid 

catch 

swatch 

bad 

quad^j" 

hatch 

thatch 

brad 

rad 

latch 

attach 

cad§ 

sad 

match 

despatch 

clad 

shad 

patch 

detach 

dad  || 

wad 

ratch 

watch 

fad 

dryad 

scratch 

wretch 

gad 

footpad 

smatch 

botch 

glad 

monad 

had 

salad 

lad 

fade 

mad 

red 

ACHE 

(see  AKE)                 pad 

sod 

*  Antiquated  :  favour,  kindness. —  Used  by  Spenser. 

\  This  word  has  no  exact  rhyme. 

J  Now  uncommon,  but  frequently  employed  in  Feudal  times ;  a  species 
of  armour  used  to  defend  the  breast  or  whole  body ;  a  horseman  in  complete 
armour;  one  armed  cap-a-pie. 

Archers  and  slingers,  cataphracts  and  spears. — Milton. 

§  From  cadet,  a  younger  son,  aminor  ;  hence  a  dependent,  a  mean  fellow. 

||  A  pet  name  for  father,  like  mam  for  mother;  both  words  no  doubt 
representing  the  earliest  articulate  sounds  of  an  infant — ma-ma,  da-da. 

*[  The  metal  spaces  used  by  compositors  are  called  quads.  The  word  is 
used  by  Gower  in  the  sense  of  evil,  bad  :  as  a  slang  term  it  stands  for  prison, 

x 


DICTIONARY  OF  RHYMES. 


ADE 


aid 

bade 

blade 

braid 

cade 

dadef 

fade 

glade 

grade 

hadet 

jade 

lade 

made 

maid 

raid 

shade 

slade§ 

spade 

trade 

vade  || 


abraid  ^[ 

afraid 

arcade 

blockade 

brigade 

brocade 

cascade 

chamade 

cockade 

crusade 

decade 

degrade 

dissuade 

evade 

fagade 

gambade*5 

grenade 

invade 

milkmaid 

parade 


persuade 

pervade 

relaid 

tirade 

unlade 

upbraid 

accolade 

ambuscade 

barricade 

bastinade 

cannonade 

cavalcade 

centigrade 

colonnade 

esplanade 

Also   the 
ay,  ey,  eigh,  as 


badge 
cadge 


fusilade 

gasconade 

lemonade 

marmalade 

masquerade 

overlade 

palisade 

pasquinade 

renegade 

retrograde 

serenade 

bad 

bead 

head 

preterites  of  verbs  in 
prey'd,  tsleigh'd. 

ADGE 

fadgeft 


*  In  genial  spring  beneath  the  quivering  shade, 
Where  curling  vapours  breathe  along  the  mead. 

Pope. 

Since  when  a  boy,  he  plied  his  trade, 
Till  on  his  life  the  sickness  weighed. 

R.  Browning. 

Then  to  the  still  small  voice  I  said; 
Let  me  not  cast  to  endless  shade, 
What  is  so  wonderfully  made. 

Tennyson. 

f  Obsolete.     To  lead,  as  a  child  just  learning  to  walk  ;  to  walk  slowly  or 
unsteadily,  as  a  child  just  beginning  to  go  alone. 

No  sooner  taught  to  dade,  than  from  their  mother  trip. — Dray  ton. 
I  Obsolete.    The  descent  of  a  hill. 

On  the  lower  lees,  as  on  the  higher  hades, 
The  dainty  clover  grows. — Drayton. 

§  Obsolete.      A  flat  low  piece  of  ground  ;  a  dale  ;  a  valley.      Employed 
by  Drayton. 

!|  Obsolete.     To  vanish  ;    to  pass  away  ;  to  go  hastily  or  rapidly.     Em- 
ployed by  Spenser. 

^[  Obsolete.     To  arouse ;  to  awake.     Employed  by  Spenser. 
**  Obsolete.     From  gambado,  a  leather  case  attached  to  a  stirrup;  a  cover 
for  the  leg  worn  over  other  clothing  ;  a  gaiter, 
ft  Obsolete.    To  be  suitable;  to  suit;  to  fit. 

Clothes  I  must  get ;  this  fashion  will  not  fudge  with  me. 

Beaumont  and  Fhtcher. 
To  live  in  concord  or  amity  ;  to  agree. 

They  shall  be  made,  spite  of  antipathy,  to  fadqe  together.— Milton. 
In  Scotland  it  is  still  sometimes  used,  and  is  applied  to  a  bundle  of  sticks ; 
a  covering  of  rough  leather;  a  bannock. 


DICTIONARY  OF  RHYMES. 


307 


chafe 

naif 

safe 

waif 

unsafe 


chaff  f 

draff 

gaff 

graff  J 

laugh 

naff 

quaff 

staff 

carafe 

distaff 

giraffe 


AFE* 

vouchsafe 

leaf 

deaf 


AFF,  ALF 

riff-raff 

tipstaff 

cenotaph 

epitaph 

paragraph 

quarter-staff 

calf 

half 

safe 

dwarf 


AFT 

raft 

shaft 

waft 

abaft 

ingraft 

handicraft 


aft 

craft 

daft§ 

draft 

draught 

graft 

haft 

Also  the  preterites  of  verbs  in 
aff,  augh,  as  quaff'd. 


AG 

bag 

quag 

brag 

rag 

cag 

sag 

crag 

scrag 

dag  || 

shag 

drag 

slag 

fag 

snag  IF 

flag 

stag 

gag 

swag 

hag 

tag 

jag 

wag 

knag 

tag-rag 

lag 

zig-zag 

nag 

AGE, 

compare  IDGE 

age 

boskage  ft 

cage 

cabbage 

gage 

corsage 

gauge 

cortege 

page 

courage 

rage 

cribbage 

sage 

dotage 

stage 

engage 

suage  ** 

enrage 

swage 

"     hostage 

wage 

marriage     \ 

adage 

manage 

assuage 

menage 

baggage 

message 

*  And  authors  think  their  reputation  safe, 

Which  lives  as  long  as  fools  are  pleased  to  laugh. — Pope, 
f  Note  the  distinction  in  sound  between  the  narrow  a  of   the    North 
and  its  broader  sound,  for  the  most  part,  in  the  South,  as  in  chaff,  chaff. — 
(chaf-charf). 

J  Obsolete.    To  graft. 

Now  let  me  graff  my  pears  and  prune  the  vine. — Dryden. 
§  A  provincialism.     Silly;    stupid.      The  Scotch  meaning  is  playful; 
frolicsome. 

\\  A  dagger ;   a  slip  :  to  form  dew ;  drizzle. 

If  A  protuberance;  a  knot ;  a  shoot:  also,  to  hew  roughly;  to  wreck — 
probably  derived  from  snack,  snatch. 
"*  Obsolete.     Now  written  assuage. 

Nor  wanting  power  to  mitigate  and  swage 
With  solemn  touches,  troubled  thoughts.— Milton. 
ff  A  grove  ;  foliage. 

Thridding  the  sombre  boskage  of  the  wood. — Tennyson. 


308 


DICTIONARY  OF  RHYMES. 


mirage 
mortgage 
passage 

foliage 
heritage 
hermitage 

wail 
wale 
whale 

impale 
prevail 
regale 

peerage 
potage 
presage 
salvage 
sausage 
scutage 
village 

parentage 
parsonage 
pasturage 
patronage 
percentage 
personage 
pilgrimage 

assail                   retail 
avail                     wassail  * 
blackmail           wholesale 
bewail                 aventail 
curtail                 countervail 
detail                   farthingale 
entail                   nightingale 

wreckage 

villanage 

exhale 

seal 

appanage 

concubinage 

female 

sell 

appendage 

edge 

disengage 

siege 

AIM—  AMEf 

equipage 

ridge 

aim 

acclaim 

AID 

(see  ADE) 

blame 
came 

became 
declaim 

AIL—  ALE 

claim 
dame 

defame 
disclaim 

ale 

pail 

fame 

exclaim 

bail 

pale 

flame 

inflame 

bale 

quail 

frame 

misname 

brail 

rail 

game 

nickname 

dale 

sail 

lame 

proclaim 

fail 

sale 

maim 

reclaim 

flail 

scale 

name 

surname 

frail 

shale 

frame 

overcame 

gale 

snail 

same 

ham 

grail 

stale 

shame 

hem 

hail 

swale 

tame 

dream 

hale 

tail 

'jail 
mail 

tale 
trail 

AIN—  ANEJ 

male 

vale 

bane 

brain 

nail 

veil 

blain 

cane 

song. 


*  A.S.,  waes  hael,  health  be  to  you ;  a  toast,  a  drinking  bout,  a  convivial 

Have  you  done  your  wassail  ? — Beaumont  and  Fletcher. 

f  Even  here  I  sing,  when  Pope  supplies  ths  theme, 

Show  my  own  love,  though  not  increase  his  fame. — Parnell. 

I  Thus  in  the  sc.ile  of  life  and  sense  'tis  plain, 
There  must  be  somewhere  such  a  rank  as  man. — Pope. 

And  black  misfortune's  baleful  train  \ 
Ah,  tell  them  they  are  men. — Gray. 


DICTIONARY  OF  RHYMES. 


309 


chain 

amain                       quaint 

constraint 

crane 

arraign 

saint 

distraint 

deign 

attain 

taint 

restraint 

drain 

campaign 

acquaint 

rant 

fain 

champagne             attaint 

rent 

fane 

complain 

complaint 

feign 
gain 

constrain 
contain 

AIR—  ARE  f 

grain 

curtain 

air 

tear  (verb) 

lain 

detain 

bare 

there 

lane 

disdain 

bear 

ware 

main 

distrain 

care 

wear 

mane 

domain 

chair 

where 

pain 

enchain 

dare 

yare 

pane 

explain 

e'er 

affair 

plain 

henbane 

ere 

armchair 

plane 

maintain 

fair 

aware 

rain 

murrain 

fare 

beware 

reign 

obtain 

flare 

coheir 

rein 

ordain 

gare 

compare 

sane 

pertain 

glair 

declare 

skein 

profane 

glare 

despair 

slain 

refrain 

hair 

elsewhere 

sprain 

regain 

hare 

ensnare 

stain 

remain 

heir 

forbear 

strain 

restrain 

lair 

forswear 

swain 

retain 

mare 

howe'er 

thane 

sustain 

ne'er 

impair 

train 

appertain 

pair 

prepare 

twain 

entertain 

pare 

repair 

vain 

hurricane 

pear 

whate'er 

vane 

wean 

scare 

whene'er 

vein 

scene 

share 

where'er 

wain 

pan 

snare 

debonnair 

wane 

i)en 

spare 

howsoe'er 

abstain 

square 

millionaire 

AINT  * 

stair 

car 

stare 

her 

faint 

mayn't 

swear 

were 

feint 

plaint 

tare 

hear 

*  When  in  the  s.Ultry  glebe  I  faint, 

Or  on  the  thirsty  mountain  pant. — Addison. 

f  To  sing  those  honours  you  deserve  to  wear, 
And  add  new  lustre  to  her  silver  star. — Pope. 
There  was  no  motion  in  the  dumb  dead  air, 
Gross  darkness  of  the  inner  sepulchre. — Tennyson. 


3io 


DICTIONARY  OF  RHYMES. 


AIRS—  ARES 

irate 

desolate 

il.  —  '-.  _ 

migrate 

desperate 

tneirs 

unawares                   narrate 

dislocate 

And   the   plurals  of  nouns  and 
the  third  persons  singular  of  verbs 
in  are,  air,  eir  ;  as  mares,  repairs. 

prostrate 
rebate 
relate 

dissipate 
educate 
elevate 

sedate 

emigrate 

AISE—  AZE 

translate 

emulate 

blaze 

raise 

abdicate 

estimate 

GTclZC 

abrogate 

extricate 

daze                     amaze 
gaze                    cross-  ways 
glaze                   paraphrase 
graze                   ease 
maze                   seize 
phrase                 keys 
praise                  has 
Also  the  plurals  of  nouns   and 
third   person    singular  of   verbs  in 

accurate 
adequate 
advocate 
aggravate 
agitate 
alienate 
animate 
annotate 
antedate 

formulate 
fornicate 
fortunate 
generate 
hesitate 
hibernate 
imitate 
immolate 
impetrate 

ay,  ey,  eif. 

'h  ;  as  lays,  obeys,  weighs. 

apostate 

imprecate 

arbitrate 

innovate 

AIT—  ATE  * 

arrogate 

instigate 

aspirate 

intimate 

bait 

slate 

cachinate 

intricate 

bate 

straight 

calculate 

irritate 

date 

strait 

candidate 

inundate 

eight 

wait 

captivate 

magistrate 

fate 

abate                        castigate 

meditate 

gait 

await                         celebrate 

micturate 

gate 

belate 

celibate 

mitigate 

grate 

collate 

circulate 

moderate 

great 

create 

congregate 

nominate 

hate 

cremate                    consecrate 

obstinate 

late 

debate 

contemplate 

oscillate 

mate 

dilate 

cultivate 

passionate 

pate 

elate 

dedicate 

penetrate 

plate 

estate 

delegate 

perforate 

prate 

frustrate 

delicate 

perpetrate 

rate 

ingrate 

deprecate 

personate 

sate 

innate 

derogate 

potentate 

Beauty  is  seldom  fortunate  when  great, 
A  vast  estate,  but  overcharged  with  debt. 

Dry  den. 

If  thirst  of  knowledge  shall  not  then  abate — 
— Then  like  one  who  with  the  weight,  &6. 

Shelley. 


DICTIONARY  OF  RHYMES. 


predicate 

confederate 

inveterate 

prognosticate 

profligate 

congratulate 

inviolate 

recriminate 

propagate 

considerate 

legitimate 

regenerate 

regulate 

contaminate 

matriculate 

reiterate 

reprobate 

co-operate 

necessitate 

reverberate 

ruminate 

corroborate 

participate 

subordinate 

rusticate 

debilitate 

precipitate 

unfortunate 

separate 

degenerate 

predestinate 

weight 

stipulate 

deliberate 

predominate 

height 

subjugate 

denominate 

premeditate 

heat 

sullbcate 

depopulate 

prevaricate 

bet 

syndicate 

disconsolate 

procrastinate 

terminate 

discriminate 

tete-a-tete 

effeminate 

titivate 

elaborate 

AITH,  ATH  (see  EATH) 

tolerate 

emancipate 

triturate 

emasculate 

vindicate 
violate 

equivocate 
eradicate 

AKE  *  compare  EAK 

abominate 

evaporate 

ache 

take 

accelerate 

exaggerate 

bake 

wake 

accentuate 

exasperate 

-  brake 

awake 

accommodate 

expectorate 

break 

bespake 

accumulate 

expostulate 

cake 

betake 

adulterate 

exterminate 

drake 

corn-crake 

affectionate 

facilitate 

fake 

forsake 

annihilate 

illiterate 

flake 

keepsake 

anticipate 

illuminate 

hake 

mandrake 

articulate 

immoderate 

lake 

mistake 

assassinate 

importunate 

make 

namesake 

capacitate 

inanimate 

quake 

partake 

capitulate 

initiate 

rake 

overtake 

chalybeate 

insatiate 

sake 

snowflake 

coagulate 

intemperate 

shake 

undertake 

commemorate 

intimidate 

snake 

rack 

commiserate 

intoxicate 

spake 

neck 

communicate 

invalidate 

-  stake 

ixyeak 

compassionate 

investigate 

steak 

check 

Sparkle  in  Jenny's  e'e,  and  flush  her  cheek; 
Wi'  heart-struck  anxious  care,  enquires  his  name, 

While  Jenny  hafflins  is  afraid  to  speak  ; 
Weel  pleased  the  mother  hears,  it's  nae  wild  worthless  rake. 

„  Burns. 

There  in  two  sable  ringlets  taught  to  break, 
One  gave  new  beauties  to  the  snowy  neck. 

Pope. 


DICTIONARY  OF  RHYMES. 


AL* 

principal             imperial 

mall  f 
pal 
shall 
cabal 
canal 
cymbal 
dismal 
dual 
equal 
feudal 
final 
formal 
legal 
loyal 

capital 
cardinal 
carnival 
comical 
conjugal 
cordial 
corporal 
criminal 
critical 
decimal 
festival 
funeral 
general 
genial 

prodigal              intellectual 
rational                original 
seneschal            poetical 
several                political 
sepulchral          problematical 
temporal             prophetical 
terminal              reciprocal 
tragical               rhetorical 
whimsical            satirical 
colloquial            sempiternal 
dogmatical         schismatical 
equinoctial         tyrannical 
equivocal            all 
hymeneal            ale 

martial 

hospital 

medal 

inimical 

ALD 

metal 

initial 

bald                     piebald 

mettle 

interval 

scald                    emerald 

mortal 
naval 

liberal 
literal 

Also  the  preterites  of  verbs  in 
all,  awl  ;  as  call'd,  bawl'd. 

partial 

littoral 

pedal 
portal 

madrigal 
magical 

ALE  (see  AIL) 

rival 

medical 

regal 

mineral 

ALF  (see  AFF) 

royal 

municipal 

rural 
total 

musical 
mystical 

ALK—  AUK  compare  ORK 

trivial 

natural 

auk                      stalk 

admiral 

nocturnal 

balk                     talk 

animal 

octagonal 

baulk                   walk 

annual 

pastoral 

calk                      tomahawk 

arsenal 

pedestal 

chalk                   soak 

autumnal 

personal 

hawk                    catafalque 

cannibal 

physical 

mawk 

*  Unfinished  things  one  knows  not  what  to  call, 
Their  generations  so  equivocal. 

Pope. 

f  A  wooden  hammer,  a  mallet ;  also  the  blow  struck  by  one. 
And  give  that  reverend  head  a  mall, 
Or  two  or  three,  against  a  wall. 

^Butler. 

Note  that  the  walk  in  St.  James's  Park  is  pronounced  The  Mall,  whereas 
the  neighbouring  street  Pall-Mall  is  sounded  p^ll-meli. 


DICTIONARY  OF  RHYMES. 


313 


ALL 

awl  small 

ball  sprawl 

bawl  squall 

brawl  stall 

call  tall 

caul  thrall 

crawl  trawl 

drawl  wall 

fall  appal 

gall  enthral 

hall  football 

haul  install 

mall  waterfall 

pall  windfall 

scrawl  cabal 
shawl 


ALM  (see  ARM) 


ALT 


fault 

halt 

malt 

salt 

vault 

asphalt 


assault 

default 

exalt 

•dolt 

thought 


ALVE 

calve 

salve 

halve 

valve 

AM 

cam 

bedlam 

clam 

beldam 

cram 

madam 

dam 

quondam 

damn 

wigwam 

dram 

anagram  § 

flam* 

amalgam 

ham 

diagram 

jamb 

diaphragm 

kam  f 

epigram 

lamb 
pam  J 

monogram 
oriflamb 

ram 

telegram 

sham 

parallelogram 

swam 

dame 

AME  (see  AIM) 

AMP 

camp 

stamp 

champ 

swamp 

clamp 

vamp 

cramp 

decamp 

damp 

encamp 

lamp 

pomp 

scamp 

*  Obsolete.     A  freak,  whim,  illusion,  deceit. 

Cant  and  cheat,  flam  and  delusion. — South. 
f  Obsolete.     Crooked,  awry. 

This  is  clean  kam. — Shakspere. 

\  Pam  from  palm,  as  trump  from  triumph. — Johnson.  Used  by  Pope  for 
the  knave  of  clubs. 

§  Anagram,  a  word  or  sentence  formed  by  transposing  the  letters  of 
another  word  or  sentence  :  e.g.  William  Noy  (attorney-general  to  Charles  I.) 
— /  moyl  in  law  ;  Horatio  Nelson — Honor  est  a  Nilo. 

Live,  vile,  and  evil  have  the  selfsame  letters; 
They  live  but  vile  whom  evil  holds  in  fetters. 


DICTIONARY   OF  RHYMES. 


AN  * 

consonance 

temperance 

countenance 

utterance 

ban 

trepan 

defiance 

vigilance 

bran 

unman 

dissonance 

deliverance 

can 

artisan 

ignorance 

exorbitance 

clan 

barracan 

importance 

extravagance 

fan 

caravan 

maintenance 

exuberance 

man 

charlatan 

ordinance 

inheritance 

pan 

Christian 

purveyance 

intemperance 

plan 

courtesan 

sufferance 

hence 

ran 

musician 

sustenance 

pretence 

scan 

oppidan 

span 

ortolan 

swan 

ottoman 

ANCH 

tan 
van 
wan 
began 
divan 

partisan 
pelican 
publican 
cosmopolitan 
attitudinarian 

blanch 
branch 
ganch 
haunch 

paunch 
ranch  e 
stanch 
carte-blanche 

foreran 

latitudinarian 

launch 

organ 

platitudinarian 

orphan 

on 

AND 

pagan 

won 

sedan 

'pain 

band 

command 

bland 

demand 

brand 

disband 

ANCE 

gland 
grand 

expand 
withstand 

chance 

expanse 

hand 

contraband 

dance 

intrance 

land 

countermand 

glance 

mischance 

rand  f 

deodand 

lance 

romance 

sand 

reprimand 

prance 

seance 

stand 

understand 

trance 

ambulance 

strand 

stain*  d 

advance 

arrogance 

wand 

send 

askance 

circumstance 

balance 

complaisance 

enhance 

concordance 

ANE 

(see  AIN) 

*  To  give  my  counsels  all  in  one, 
The  tuneful  flame  still  careful  fan  ; 
Preserve  the  dignity  of  man. 

Bunts. 
f  Obsolete.    A  border,  seam,  shred. 

To  cut  me  into  rands. — Beaumont  an.i  Fletcher. 
Also,  with  cordwainers,  a  thin  inner  sole,  as  of  cork. 


DICTIONARY  OF  RHYMES. 


315 


AXG 


bang 

clang 

fang 

gang 

hang 

pang 

rang 

sang 


change 

grange 

range 

strange 

arrange 


bank 
blank 


slang 

stang  * 

svvang 

tang  f 

twang 

harangue 

long 


ANGE 


estrange 
exchange 
interchange 
revenge 


ANK 


brank  \ 
clank 


crank 

rank 

dank§ 
drank 

shank 
slank 

frank 
hank 

spank 
stank 

lank  || 

thank 

plank 
prank 

disrank 
mountebank 

ANSE 

(see  ANCE) 

ANT  H 

ant 

aslant 

aunt 
cant 

displant 
enchant 

chant 
grant 
pant 
plant 
rant 
slant 

gallant 
implant 
merchant 
mordant 
rampant 
recant 

*  Obsolete.  A  measure  of  land,  a  perch,  a  long  pole,  shaft. 
Riding  the  stang  was  a  rude  outcome  of  popular  indignation  against  wife 
beaters  and  such-like  offenders,  which  was  prevalent  in  Yorkshire  some  forty 
or  fifty  years  ago.  The  youth  of  a  neighbourhood  would  assemble,  and 
mount  one  of  their  number  upon  a  pole  borne  upon  the  shoulders  of  others. 
Gathering  a  noisy  crowd  they  would  go  round  the  district  denouncing  the 
evil-doer  in  a  strange  rigmarole  of  imprecations,  which  they  brought  to  a 
climax  in  front  of  the  offender's  house. 

f  Probably  from  sting  :  a  strong  flavour,  a  piercing  sound,  a  twang. 
The  least  tang  of  misery. — Scott. 
She  had  a  tongue  with  a  tang, 
Would  cry  to  a  sailor,  go  hang. — Shaksper.e. 
I  Obsolete.    A  bridle,  an  instrument  formerly  used  for  punishing  scolds. 

—(Halliwell). 
§  Damp,  wet,  moisture. 

Folds  his  dank  wing  beneath  the  ivy  shade. — Heber. 

The  dank  of  winter. — Marston. 
||  Thin,  empty,  languid. 

My  body  lank  and  lean. — Gascoigne. 
A  lank  purse. — Barrow. 

He,  piteous  of  her  woes,  reared  her  lank  head. — Milton. 
•[  No  nightingale  did  ever  chant, 

More  welcome  notes  to  weary  bands 
Of  travellers,  in  some  shady  haunt. 

Wordsworth. 


3'6 


DICTIONARY  OF  RHYMES. 


remnant 

miscreant 

enwrap                top 

servant 

petulant 

mishap                heap 

supplant 

poignant 

tape 

tenant 

protestant 

transplant 

recreant 

APE 

adamant 

recusant 

arrogant 

ruminant 

ape                      scape 

combatant 
complaisant 

termagant 
vigilant 

cape                     scrape 
chape                  shape 

consonant 
conversant 

visitant 
exorbitant 

crape                   tape 
drape                   trape  § 

cormorant 

extravagant 

grape                   escape 

covenant 
disputant 
dissonant 

inhabitant 
predominant 
significant 

jape                     heap 
nape                    sleep 
rape 

dominant 

want 

Jr 

elegant 
elephant 

font 

can't 

APH  (see  AFF) 

ignorant 

upon't 

jubilant 

faint 

lieutenant 

tent 

APSE 

militant 

haunt 

lapse                    capes 

elapse                  trapse 

perhaps               heaps 

AP 

relapse 

Also  the  plurals  of  nouns,  and 

cap 

pap 

the  third  person  singular  of  verbs  in 

chap 

rap 

ap  ;  as  maps,  raps. 

clap 

sap 

dap 

scrap 

APT 

fap* 

slap 

flap 

snap 

apt                       ap'  d 

gap 

strap 

adapt                   escaped 

hap 

tap 

Also  the  preterites  of  verbs  in 

knapf 

trap 

ap  ;  as  rapp'd. 

lap 

wrap 

map 

affrap  \ 

nap 

entrap 

AQUE  (see  ACK) 

Obsolete.     Fuddled,  drunk;  used  by  Shakspere. 

To  break  short,  to  gnash.     Knapped  ginger. — Shakspere. 

Obsolete.    To  strike  down. 

Affrap  the  warlike  rider. — Spenser. 
Obsolete.     To  loiter,  to  trapse :  used  by  Swift. 


DICTIONARY  OF  RHYMES. 


317 


are 

bar 

car 

char 

far 

jar 

mar 

pa 

par 

scar 

spar 

star 

tar 

war 

afar 

bazaar 

briar 

cellar 

catarrh 

cigar 

collar 

debar 

durbar 

felspar 

friar 

guitar 


barb 
garb 


AR* 

ARCE—  ARSE 

hookah 

farce                    sarse  f 

hussar 

parse                   sparse 

liar 

mortar 

ARCH  compare  ARK  &  ARSH 

nectar 

arch                     starch 

unbar 
angular 

larch                   countermarch 
march                 church 

avatar 
calendar 

parch                  search 

caviare 

cinnabar 

ARD 

popular 

bard                    dastard 

regular 

card                     discard 

secular 

fuard                  dotard 

scimitar 

ard                    drunkard 

singular 

lard                      leopard 

titular 

nard                    niggard 

vinegar 
particular 
perpendicular 

pard  f                 petard 
shard                  regard 
sward                  re  nard 

dare 

ward                   retard 

wear 

yard                    vineyard 

ear 

bastard               wizard 

sailor 

blackguard        disregard 

saviour 

blizzard              interlard 

bombard             reward 

charade              lord 

costard  §             aboard 

ARB 

coward                restored 

custard 

rhubarb 

Also  the  preterites  of  verbs  ;n 

herb 

ar  ;  as  barr'd, 

*  Late  as  I  ranged  the  crystal  fields  of  air, 
In  the  clear  mirror  of  thy  ruling  star. 

Pope. 

When  tempests  war — 

And  the  pale  dalesmen  watch  with  eager  ear. 

Shelley. 

Obsolete.     A  sieve,  to  sift. 
Leopard  or  panther  in  poetry. 

Bearded  like  a  pard.—Shakspere. 
A  kind  of  apple,  the  head. 

Take  him  over  the  costard  with  the  hilt  of  thy  sword. 

Shakspere. 


DICTIONAR  Y  OF  RHYMES. 


ARF  (see  AFF) 

harm 

disarm 

palm 

gendarme 

psalm 

salaam 

ARGE 

qualm 

swarm 

barge 
charge 

o'ercharge 
surcharge 

alarm 
becalm 

storm 

large 

verge 

marge 

urge 

ARN 

discharge 

forge 

barn 

warn 

enlarge 

darn 

horn 

tarn 

pawn 

ARK 

yarn 

earn 

arc 

spark 

ARP 

ark 

stark 

bark 

embark 

carp 

counterscarp 

cark 

monarch 

harp 

warp 

clerk 

remark 

sharp 

thorp* 

dark 

hierarch 

lark 
mark 

heresiarch 
fork 

ARSH 

(see  also  ARCH) 

park 

lurk 

harsh 

march 

shark 

marsh 

ARL 

ART  f 

carl 
gnarl 
marl 
parle 

snarl 
curl 
girl 

art 
cart 
dart 
hart 
heart 

braggart 
depart 
dispart 
impart 
counterpart 

mart 

quart 

ARM 

part 

port 

smart 

dirt 

arm 

calm 

start 

hurt 

balm 

charm 

tart 

court 

barm 

farm 

apart 

*  A  hamlet. 

By  thirty  hills  to  hurry  down, 
By  twenty  thorps,  a  little  town. 

Tennyson. 

f  The  Power,  incens'd  the  pageant  will  desert, 
But  haply,  in  some  cottage  far  apart. 
Burns. 

Thou  friend  whose  presence  on  my  wintry  heart, 
How  beautiful -and  calm  and  free  thou  wert. 
Shelley. 


DICTIONARY  OF  RHYMES. 


319 


AF 

ITH  (see  EARTH) 

ASK 

ask 

flask 

ARVE 

bask 

hask 

cask 

mask 

carve 

nerve 

starve 

ASM 

AS  * 

chasm 

cataplasm 

spasm 

enthusiasm 

ass 

morass 

miasm 

protoplasm 

brass 

repass 

phantasm 

theism 

class 

surpass 

sarcasm 

euphemism 

crass 

coup  de  grace 

grass 

embarrass 

ASP 

lass 
mass 

erysipelas 
has 

asp 

^i.oir 

hasp 

pass 

mace 

clasp 

rasp 

alas 

base 

gasp 

wasp 

amass 

toss 

grasp 

wisp 

cuirass 

was 

harass 

ASS  (see  AS) 

ASE  (see  ACE) 

blast 

ASTf 
bombast 

cast 

forecast 

ASH 

caste 

repast 

ash 

pash 

fast 

outcast 

bash 
brash 

plash 
rash 

mast 
last 

overcast 
enthusiast 

cash 

sash 

past 

iconoclast 

clash 
crash 
dash 

slash 
smash 
thrash 

vast 
aghast 
avast 

cost 
taste 
plac'd 

flash 

trash 

Also  the 

preterites  of  verbs  in 

gash 

abash 

ass  ;  as  mass'd. 

gnash 
hash 

was/i 
bosh 

ASTE 

lash 

quash 

baste 

haste 

mash 

chaste 

paste 

Let  them  pass. — 

Is  not  so  much  more  glorious  than  it  was, 
Shelley. 

f  And  lay  thy  glories  waste, 
Unconscious  of  the  blast. 

Beattie. 


320 


DICTIONARY  OF  RHYMES. 


taste                   fast 

AUGH  (see  AFF) 

waist                   rest 

waste                  dress'd 

distaste 

AUGHT  (see  AFT—  ORT) 

Also  the  preterites  of  verbs  in 

ace,  ase  ;  as  lac'd,  chas'd. 

AUK  (see  ALK) 

AT 

bat                      spot 

AUN  (see  AWN) 

brat                     sprat 

cat                       tat 

chat                     that 

AUNT  compare  ANT 

fat                       vat 

flat                       cravat 

daunt                   vaunt 

fnat                    cushat 

gaunt                  avaunt 

at                      polecat 
mat                     acrobat 

haunt                  ant 
jaunt                    carft 

pat                      what 

taunt 

rat                       not 

sat                      hate 

AUSE—  AUZE 

ATCH  (see  ACH) 

cause                  applause 

clause                 because 

ATE  (see  AIT) 

gauze                  was 
pause 

Also  the   plurals  of  nouns   and 

ATH  (see  EATH) 

the  third  person  singular  of   verbs 
in  aw  ;  as  laws,  caws. 

ATHE  (see  EATHE) 

AVE 

AUB  (see  OB) 

brave                  slave 
cave                     stave 

crave                   wave 

AUD 

gave                    behave 
grave                  deprave 

bawd                   applaud 
broad                  defraud 

knave                  engrave 
lave                      forgave 

fraud                  ode 
laud                    load 

nave                    margrave 
pave                    outbrave 

abroad               old 

rave                     architrave 

And  the   preterites  of  verbs  in 
aw  ;  as  caw'd. 

save                    Jiave 
shave 

DICTIONARY  OF  RHYMES. 


321 


AW 

chaw                   saw 
claw                     squaw 

aye  f 
bray 

craw                    straw 
daw                     thaw 

clay 
dav 

draw                    foresaw 

j  y 

dray 

flaw                     cat's-paw 

eh? 

gnaw                    guffaw 
haw                      hawhaw 

fay 
flay 

jaw                      jackdaw 
law                      withdraw 

r    3. 

fray 

maw                    overawe 
paw                     usquebaugh 

grey 
hay 

raw 

jay 

lay 

AWL  (see  ALL) 

may 

nay 

AWN  compare  ORN 

neigh 
pay 

awn                     pawn 

play 

brawn                 prawn 

pray 

dawn                   spawn 

prey 

drawn                 yawn 

ray 

fawn                    withdrawn 

say 

lawn 

slay 

spray 

stay 

AX 

stray 

axe                     poll-tax 
flax                      nicknacks 

sway 
they 

lax                       relax 

tray 

tax                       thorax 

tway 

wax                     parallax 
borax                  cakes 

way 
weigh 

climax                 takes 

whey 

gimcracks 
Also  the  plurals  of  nouns,  and 

affray 
allay 

the  third   person  singular   of  verbs 

array 

in  ak  ;  as  backs,  lacks. 

astray 

AY 


away 
ballet 
belay 
betray 
bewray 
convey 
decay 
defray 
delay 
denay 
dismay 
display 
essay 
gainsay 
horseplay 
hurrah 
inlay- 
inveigh 
levee 
obey 
portray 
purvey 
relay 
repay 
soire'e 
subway 
survey 
tramway 
dejeuner 
disarray 
disobey 
matinee 
roundelay 
stowaway 
runaway 
cabriolet 
tea 
fee 


Th'  ethereal  coursers  bounding  from  the  sea, 

From  out  their  flaming  nostrils  breath'd  the  day. — Dryden. 


f  Aye  ever,  is  pronounced  as  ay  in  day. 
word  eye,  as  in  "  The  ayes  have  it." 


Ay,  aye,  the  affirmative,  as  the 


322 


DICTIONARY  OF  RHYMES. 


AZE  (see  AISE) 

EAGUE 

league                 renege 

CRE,  CHRE  (see  ER) 

teague                 vague 
fatigue                 beg 

intrigue 

E,  EA  (see  EE) 

EAK  f  compare  AKE 

EACE,  EASE* 

Words  in  eek  may  be  allowed  to 

pass  as  almost  perfect  rhymes  with 

cease                   decease 

beak. 

geese                   decrease 

beak                    sneak 

grease                 increase 

bleak                   speak 

fleece                  release 

cheek                  squeak 

lease                    surcease 

clique                   streak 

niece                   frontispiece 

creak                   teak 

peace                  less 

creek                   tweak  | 

piece                   lace 

eke                      weak 

apiece                 -miss 

freak                   week 

caprice               lees 

leak                      wreak 

leek                     antique 

EACH 

meek                   bezique 
peak                    bespeak 

beach                  reach 

pique                    critique 

bleach                 teach 

reek                     oblique 

breach                 impeach 
each                    beech 

seek                     break 
sheik                   brake 

peach                 etch 

shriek                  thick 

1         i 

preach 

sleek 

EAL,  EEL§ 

BAD  (see  EDE  and  BED) 

deal                     heal 

deil                      heel 

eel                        keel 

EAF  (see  IEF) 

feel                      kneel 

Lest  we  rust  in  ease, 
We  all  are  changed  by  still  degrees. 

Tennyson. 

f  The  wreathed  serpent  who  did  ever  seek 
.  Upon  his  enemy's  heart  a  mortal  wound  to  wreak. 

Shelley. 
I  To  pull  rudely,  pinch. 

Who  calls  me  villain,  breaks  my  pate  across, 
Tweaks  me  by  the  nose. 

Shakspere. 

§  Or,  as  Ixion  fix'd,  the  wretch  shall  feel 
The  giddy  motion  of  the  whirling  mill. 

Pope. 


DICTIONARY  OF  RHYMES. 


323 


leal 

wheal 

team                    extreme 

meal 

•wheel 

teem                    misdeem 

peal 

zeal 

theme                  redeem 

peel 
reel 

anneal 
appeal 

beseem                supreme 
beteem  *            Jn'ni 

seal 

conceal 

blaspheme         ethm 

squeal 

congeal 

esteem                 name 

steal 

repeal 

steel 
teal 

reveal 
tell 

EAMT—  EMPT 

veal 
weal 

tale 
till 

dreamt                contempt 
tempt                  exempt 

attempt 

EALM—  ELM 

elm 

whelm 

EAN  f—  EEN 

helm 

overwhelm 

Words  in  een  may  be  allowed  to 

realm 

film 

pass  as   almost  perfect    rhymes  to 

bean. 

EALTH 

bean                    sheen 

clean                   seen 

health 

wealth 

dean                    skein 

stealth 

commonwealth 

e'en                      spleen 

glean                   teen 

EAM—  EEM 

green                  wean 

keen                    ween 

beam 

ream 

lean                     yean§ 

bream 

scheme 

mean                   between 

cream 

scream 

mien                    canteen 

deem 

seam 

quean  J               careen 

dream 

seem 

queen                  convene 

gleam 

stream 

screen                 demean 

*  Obsolete  :  to  bestow,  permit,  suffer. 

So  loving  to  my  mother, 

That  he  might  not  beteem  the  winds  of  heaven 
Visit  her  face  too  roughly. 

Shakspere. 
f  A  sordid  god,  down  from  his  hoary  chin 

A  length  of  beard  descends,  uncomb'd,  unclean. 

Dryden. 

J  A  worthless  woman,  a  strumpet. 
A  witch,  a  quean,  an  old  cozening  quean. 

Shakspere. 
In  Scotland  the  word  is  used  not  in  a  bad  sense  : — 

O,  she  was  a  dainty  quean. — Old  Song. 
§  To  bring  forth  young,  to  lamb.     Used  by  Dryden. 


324 


DICTIONARY   OF  RHYMES. 


demesne 

foreseen 

machine 

obscene 

routine 

serene 

terrene  * 

unclean 

aniline 

crinoline 

guillotine 

intervene 


margarine 

nicotine 

quarantine 

submarine 

tambourine 

vaseline 

velveteen 

bane 

ban 

been 

bin 


EANT  (see  ENT) 

EAP 

cheap  sleep 

creep  steep 

deep  sweep 

heap  -weep 

keep  asleep 

neap  beweep 

peep  ship 

sheep  shape 

EARf 

beer  clear 

cheer  dear 


deer 

ear 

fear 

fleer 

gear 

hear 

here 

jeer 

leer 

mere 

near 

peer 

queer 

rear 

sear 

seer 

sheer 

smear 

sneer 

spear 

sphere 

steer 

tier 

veer 

year 

adhere 

appear 

austere 

besmear 

career 


cohere 

compeer 

endear 

revere 

severe 

sincere 

veneer 

auctioneer 

bandolier 

buccaneer 

chandelier 

chanticleer 

chiffonier 

disappear 

domineer 

engineer 

gondolier 

hemisphere 

interfere 

mountaineer 

muleteer 

musketeer 

mutineer 

persevere 

pioneer 

privateer 

charioteer 

dare 

fair 

her 


*  An  adjective  from  terra,  the  earth. 

Advanced  in  llonour  and  terrene,  power.  ' 

I  Hooker. 

Milton  uses  it  aJa  noun  : — 
The  length  of  this  terrene. 

\  Where  I  may  ofl  outwatch  the  Bear 
With  thrice-great  Hermes,  or  unsphere 
The  spirit  ot  Plato. 

Milton. 

Of  man  what  see  we  but  his  station  here, 
From  which  to  reason,  or  to  which  refer. 

Pope. 

Think,  ye  may  buy  the  joys  o'er  dear : 
Remember  Tam  O'Shanter's  mare. 

Burns. 


DICTIONARY  OF  RHYMES. 


325 


EARCH  (see  ERCH) 
HARD  (see  ERD) 
EARL  (see  URL) 
EARN  (see  ERN) 
EART  (see  ART) 
EARTH—  ERTH* 


berth 

birth 

dearth 

earth 

mirth 


worth 

swarth 

hearth 

breath 

north 


EASTf 


beast  priest 

east  best 

feast  list 

least  hiss'd 

Also  the   preterites  of  verbs  in 
ease  ;  as  ceas'd. 


EAT,  EETt 

Words  in  eet  may  be  allowed  to 

pass   as 

almost  perfect  rhymes    to 

beat. 

beat 

complete 

bleat 

conceit 

cheat 

concrete 

eat 

deceit 

feat 

defeat 

feet 

discreet 

fleet 

discrete 

greet 

entreat 

greit  § 

escheat 

heat 

estreat 

meat 

replete 

meet 

retreat 

mete 

obsolete 

neat 

plebiscite 

seat 

bate 

sheet 

gait 

sleet 
street 

great 
bet 

sweet 

sweat 

treat 

hit 

wheat 

EATH,  ETH  || 

baith 

death 

breath 

faith 

*  Far  from  all  resort  of  mirth 
Save  the  cricket  on  the  hearth. 

Milton. 

'  The  holly  round  the  Christmas  hearth, 
A  rainy  cloud  possessed  the  earth. 

Tennyson. 

f  And  sometimes  casts  an  eye  upon  the  east, 
And  sometimes  looks  on  the  forbidden  west. 

A  ddison. 

\  With  his  morning-winged/^, 
Whose  bright  print  is  gleaming  yet. 

Shelley. 

§  Provincial :  generally  spelt  greet,  to  weep. 
What  gars  thee  greit  ? — Spenser. 

\\  Greet  her  with  applausive  breath, 
In  her  right  a  civic  wreath. 

Tennyson. 


326 


DICTIONARY  OF  RHYMES. 


heath 

hath 

ECK 

neath                   wrath 
wraith                  rath  * 
wreath                teeth 
underneath         cometh 

T       /  7. 

beck 
check 
deck 
fleck 

reckf 

spec 
speck 
wreck 

uatrL 
And   the   archaic   third    person 
singular  of  verbs. 

geek 
neck 
peck 

bake 

beak 

EATHE 

ECT 

breathe 

bathe 

seethe 

scathe 

sect 

project 

sheathe 

swathe 

affect 

protect 

wreathe 

wreath 

aspect 

reflect 

bequeathe 

collect 

reject 

correct 

respect 

EAVE 

deject 
direct 

select 
subject 

cleave 

conceive 

dissect 

suspect 

eave 

deceive 

detect 

architect 

eve 

unweave 

effect 

circumspect 

grieve 

perceive 

eject 

disaffect 

heave 

receive 

elect 

disrespect 

leave 

relieve 

erect 

indirect 

sleeve 

reprieve 

expect 

intellect 

thieve 

disbelieve 

infect 

incorrect 

weave 

interleave 

inspect  • 

recollect 

achieve 

interweave 

neglect 

retrospect 

aggrieve 
believe 

live 
lave 

object 
Also  the 

leak'd 
preterites   of  verbs  in 

bereave 

eck  ;  as  henpeck'd. 

EB,  EBB 

ED 

bleb 

web 

bed 

bred 

ebb 

babe 

bled 

dead 

nebf 

glebe 

bread       ^ 

dread 

*  Or  rathe,  early,  before  the  time.    The  adverb  rather  is  the  regularly 
formed  comparative  of  it. 

The  rath  primrose  that  forsaken  dies.— Milton. 
f  Nose,  beak  :  also  a  euphonic  contraction  for  Ebenezer. 
\  To  regard,  take  care  of. 

I  reck  as  little  what  betideth  me. — Shakspere. 
Recks  not  his  own  rede. — Shakspere. 
Little  he'll  reck.— Wolfe. 


DICTIONARY  OF  RHYMES. 


327 


fed 

tread                         see                       devotee 

fled 

wed 

she                       disagree 

head 

abed 

spree                   filigree 

lead 

behead 

tea                       jubilee 

read 

homestead 

thee                     jeu  d'esprit 

red 

instead 

three                    mortgagee 

said 

misled 

tree                      nominee 

shed 

o'erspread 

agree                  peccavi 

shred 

plead 

bawbee               pedigree 

sped 

blade 

decree                 recipe 

spread 

maid 

degree                referee 

stead 

obeyed 

foresee                repartee 

thread 

fusee                   simile 

grandee              vis-a-vis 

houri                   animalculae 

EDE  (see  EED) 

lessee                  con  amore 

on  dit                  extempore 

rupee                   felo  de  se 

EDGE 

compare  AGE,   IDGE 

trustee                fac  simile 

edge 
fledge 
hedge 
kedge 

wedge 
allege 
knowledge 
age 

calipee                hyperbole 
cap-a-pie            lapsus  linguae 
committee          sotto  voce 
coterie                agapemone 

ledge 
pledge 

privilege 
porridge 

Words  ending  in  y    short;    as 
merry,  symmetry. 

sedge 

EECE  (see  EACE) 

EE* 

(see  Y,  second  list} 

bee 

dree  t 

key 
knee 

EECH  (see  EACH) 

flea 

lea 

flee 
free 

lee 
me 

EED,   EDEJ 

glee 

ne 

bead                    creed 

gree 

plea 

bleed                   deed 

he 

sea 

breed                   feed 

*  Poets,  a  race  long  unconfin'd  and  free, 
Still  fond  and  proud  of  savage  liberty. 

Pope. 
|  Cognate  with  dry — long,  tedious. 

J  In  genial  spring  beneath  the  quiv'ring  shade, 
Where  cooling  vapours  breathe  along  the  mead. 

Pope. 


328 


DICTIONARY  OF  RHYMES. 


heed 

exceed 

EET  (see  EAT) 

knead 

impede 

lead 
mead 

indeed 
linseed 

EF  (see  IEF) 

meed 

precede 

need 

proceed 

EFT 

plead 
read 

recede 
succeed                    cleft 

bereft 

rede* 
seed 
speed 

stampede 
intercede 
supersede 

left 
theft 
weft 

lift 
whiff  "d 

laugftd 

steed 

velocipede 

weed 

made 

EG 

concede 

bed 

decreed 

bid 

beg 

seg 

egg 

philabeg 

EEF 

(see  IEF) 

leg 

keg 

league 
vague 

Peg 

EEK 

(see  EAK) 

EGM  (see  EM) 

EEL 

(see  EAL) 

EIGN  (see  AIN) 

EEM 

(see  EAM) 

EIN  (see  AIN) 

EEN 

(see  EAN) 

EESE,  EEZE 

EINT  (see  AINT) 

breeze 
cheese 

these 
wheeze 

EIT  (see  EAT) 

ease 

appease 

freeze 

disease 

EL 

please 
seize 

displease 
dives 

bell 

hell 

sneeze                 images 
sq'ftafep  fa***^*  soliloquies 
tease                  place 
Also  the  plurals  o'f  nouns  in  ee, 
ea  ;  as  fees,  seas. 

belle 
cell 
dwell 
ell 
fell 

knell 
mell 
quell 
sell 
shell 

Provincial.    Advice,  to  advise      i 

Recks  not  his  own  rede. — Shakspere. 
I  rede  you  tent  it. — Biirns. 


DICTIONARY  OF  RHYMES. 


329 


smell 

petrel 

spell 

rebel 

swell 

repel 

tell 

sorrel 

well 

towel 

yell 

vowel 

befell 

yokel 

compel 

asphodel 

dispel 

calomel 

excel 

citadel 

expel 

doggerel 

foretell 

infidel 

gazelle 

muscatel 

hotel 

parallel 

hovel 

sentinel 

impel 

pole 

laurel 

peal 

libel  ; 

peel 

mongrel 

ELT 


ELD 

eld  upheld 

geld  withheld 

held  Jieal'd 

beheld  hail'd 

Also  the  preterites  of  verbs 
ell;  as  swell 'd. 


ELF 


delf 

elf 

pelf 


elk 
kelk 


help 
kelp 


self 

shelf 

himself 


ELK 


whelk 
milk 


ELM  (see  EALM) 

ELP      k 

whelp 
yelp 


belt 

melt 

dealt 

pelt 

dwelt 

smelt 

felt 

welt 

gelt 

hilt 

ELVE 

delve 

shelve 

helve 

twelve 

EM 

gem 

an  ad  em 

hem 

apothegm 

kemb 

diadem 

phlegm 

requiem 

stem 

stratagem 

them 

tame 

anthem 

team 

condemn 

theme 

contemn 

EME  (see  EAM) 

EMPT 

dreamt 

exempt 

tempt 

unkempt 

attempt 

prompt 

contempt 

EN 

den 

cozen 

fen 

^.dozen 

hen 

<fc%fMJJ£n  4M 

ken 

frozen 

men 

hyphen 

pen 

omen 

ten 

open 

then 

oxen 

wren 

seameji 

amen 

semen 

DICTION AR  Y  OF  RHYMES. 


sharpen 

syren 

vixen 

warden 

acumen 

citizen 


denizen 

oxygen 

bane 

bean 

been 


ENCE 

,  ENSE  * 

cense 

silence 

dense 

suspense 

fence 

abstinence" 

hence 

conference 

pence 

confidence 

sense 

consequence 

thence 

continence 

whence 

difference 

commence 

diffidence 

condense 

diligence 

defence 

eloquence 

dispense 

eminence 

expense 

evidence 

immense 

excellence 

incense 

frankincense 

intense 

inference 

nonsense 

impotence 

offence 

impudence 

pretence 

indigence 

prepense 

indolence 

prudence 

innocence 

negligence 
penitence 
preference 
providence 

indifference 
intelligence 
incontinence 
impenitence 

recompense 
reference 
residence 
reverence 

impertinence 
improvidence 
magnificence 
munificence 

vehemence 
violence 

omnipotence 
dance 

benevolence 

cleanse 

circumference 

dens 

concupiscence 

scents 

bench 

blench 

clench 

drench 

quench 

stench 


bend 

blend 

end 

fend§ 

friend 


ENCH 

tench 

trench 

wench  J 

wrench 

intrench 

retrench 

END 

lend 

mend 

rend 

send 

spend 


*  Can  ye  listen  in  your  silence  ? 
Can  your  mystic  voices  tell  us 
Where  ye  hide  ?  In  floating  islands. 

E.  B.  Browning. 
f  Or  blanch,  to  grow  white,  to  flinch. 

I'll  observe  his  looks ; 
I'll  tent  him  to.  the  quick  :  if  he  but  blench 
I  know  my  course. 

Shakspere. 
I  A  maid,  a  girl,  a  strumpet. 

A  royal  wench. — Shakspere. 

A  wench  went  and  told  them. — IT.  Samuel  xvii.  17, 
I  am  a  gentlewoman  and  no  wench. — Chaucer. 
Now,  the  word  is  provincial  and  vulgar. 

§  To  keep  off,  exclude,  to 'fold, 

f  To  fend  the  bitter  cold.—Dryden. 

He  fends  his;  flock.— Phillips. 


DICTIONARY  OF  RHYMES, 


331 


tend 

offend 

Brent  f 

vend 

obtend 

hent  \ 

amend 

portend 

lent 

ascend 

pretend 

pent 

attend 

protend 

meant 

befriend 

suspend 

rent 

commend 

transcend 

scent 

contend 

unbend 

sent 

defend 

apprehend 

shent  § 

depend 

comprehend 

spent 

descend 

condescend 

tent 

distend 

dividend 

vent 

expend 

recommend 

went 

extend 

reprehend 

absent 

forefend 

reverend 

ascent 

impend 

wean''  '(I 

assent 

misspend 

fiend 

attent  || 

Also  the 

preterites  of  verbs  in 

augment 

en  ;  as  kenn'd 

cement 

consent 

ENE  (see  EAN) 

content 

crescent 

ENGE 

descent 

avenge 

revenge 

dissent 
extent 

ENGTH 

ferment 
foment 

length 

strength 

frequent 

indent 

ENT 

intent 

bent 

blent  * 

invent 

lament 

misspent 

o'erspent 

ostent 

present 

prevent 

relent 

repent 

resent 

rodent 

sergeant 

solvent 

strident 

student 

tangent 

torment 

torrent 

unbent 

abasement 

accident 

aliment 

argument 

banishment 

battlement 

blandishment 

chastisement 

circumvent 

concurrent 

competent 

complement 

compliment 


Blended. 


"Tis  beauty  truly  blent,  whose  red  and  white 
Nature's  own  sweet  and  cunning  hand  laid  on. 

Shakspere. 

f  Obsolete.     From  bren  to  burn.     Used  by  Spenser 
\  Obsolete.     From  hend  to  lay  hold  of.     Used  by  Shakspere. 
§  Obsolete.     From  shend,  to  blame,  injure. 

I  am  shent  for  speaking  to  you. — Shakspere. 
That  knight  should  knighthood  ever  so  have  shent.— Spenser. 
||  Obsolete.     Intent,  attentive. 

Season  your  admiration  for  a  while 
With  an  attent  ear. 

Shakspere. 
Speftser  uses  the  word  as  a  noun. 


332 


DICTIONARY  OF  RHYMES. 


condiment 

nourishment             arbitrament        indifferent 

confident 

nutriment 

armipotent         incandescent 

continent 

Occident 

'  astonishment     incompetent 

corpulent 

opulent 

belligerent          incontinent 

detriment 

ornament 

bellipotent          intelligent 

different 

parliament 

benevolent          irreverent 

diligent 

penitent 

disparagement  lineament 

discontent 

permanent 

embellishment  magnificent 

document 

pertinent 

establishment    malevolent 

element 

precedent 

equivalent           mendicament 

eloquent 

president 

experiment         omnipotent 

eminent 

prevalent 

impenitent          temperament 

evident 

provident 

imprisonment     -paint 

excellent 

punishment 

improvident       paitf 

excrement 

ravishment 

exigent 

redolent 

facculent 

regiment 

ENTS  (see  ENCE) 

firmanent 

represent 

flatulent 

resident 

EP 

fraudulent 

reticent 

fundament 

reverent 

nep                      demirep 

government 

rudiment 

rep                       reap 

imminent 

sacrament 

step                     rape 

impertinent 

sediment 

skep 

implement 

sentiment 

impotent 

settlement 

EPT 

impudent 

subsequent 

incident 

succulent 

crept                    adept 

indictment 

supplement 

kept                     except 

indigent 

tenement 

sept                      intercept 

indolent 

testament 

slept                    reaped 

innocent 

tournament 

wept                   peep'd 

insolent 

turbulent 

accept 

instrument 

underwent 

languishment 
ligament 

vehement 
violent 

ER,*  ERR  compare  OR,  UR 

malcontent 

virulent 

blur                      fir 

management 

accomplishment 

burr                      fur 

monument 

acknowledgment 

cur                       her 

negligent 

admonishment 

err                        myrrh 

The  vulgar  thus  by  imitation  err, 
As  oft  the  learn'd  by  being  singular. 

Pope. 

It  was  no  reason  then  for  her 
To  wanton  with  the  sun,  her  lusty  paramour, 

Milton. 


DICTIONARY  Ol<*  RHYMES. 


333 


purr 

pepper 

forerunner          sorcerer 

sir 

pilfer 

gardener            terrier- 

slur 

prefer 

grasshopper      theatre 

spur 

plunger 

harbinger           thunderer 

stir 

rambler 

islander              traveller 

whirr 

robber 

lavender             usurer 

aver 

rooster 

lawgiver             villager 

barber 

rover 

loiterer                victualler 

blister 

scatter 

lucifer                 voyager 

brother 

simper 

mariner               waggoner 

cadger 

singer 

massacre            wanderer 

caper 

sinner 

messenger          administer 

cipher 

sister 

minister              adulterer 

cloister 

skipper 

murderer            artificer 

clover 

sloper 

officer                  astronomer 

codger 

smatter 

passenger           astrologer 

coster 

smuggler 

pillager               filibuster 

cruiser 

soldier 

presbyter            idolater 

dapper 

sombre 

prisoner               interpreter 

daughter 

spinster 

provender           philosopher 

dempster 

stammer 

register               amphitheatre 

deter 

steamer 

reveller               precentor 

differ 

stopper 

sepulchre           sugar 

douceur 

stutter 

slanderer           fear 

foster 

summer 

sophister 

ginger 

temper 

Also  the  comparative  of  adjectives, 

heifer 

toper 

and  nouns  formed  from  verbs  in  y  ; 

hunger 

trapper 

as  higher,  buyer. 

inter 

transfer 

lawyer 

trooper 

ERCE  (see  ERSE) 

leather 

whisper 

ledger 

arbiter 

ERCH 

leper 

armiger 

lobster 

barrister 

church    '.             smirch 

lover 

bespatter 

lurch                   research 

lubber 

canister 

perch                  -preach 

martyr 

character 

search                parch 

master 

chorister 

miller 

conjurer 

ERD 

miser 

cottager 

mitre 

cucumber 

bird                     bard 

murmur 

cylinder 

heard                 fear'd 

nadir 

dowager 

herd           *         weird 

ogre 

flatterer 

sherd       *^Uy\,£\ 

oyster 

forager 

Also  the  preterites  of  verbs  in 

pauper 

foreigner 

er,  ur  ;  as  err'd,  purr'd. 

334 


DICTIONARY  OF  RHYMES. 


£.!.<£ 

yearn 

sojourn 

scurf 

turf 

adjourn 

overturn 

serf 
surt 

half 

concern 
discern 

yarn 
mourn 

return 

born 

ERGE 

dirge 

urge 

ERSE} 

gurge* 

verge 

curse 

commerce 

merge 

diverge 

hearse 

disperse 

purge 

emerge 

nurse 

immerse 

scourge 

immerge 

purse 

perverse 

serge 

barge 

terse 

rehearse 

surge 

forge 

verse 

reverse 

worse 

traverse 

ERM 

accurse 
adverse 

intersperse 
reimburse 

firm 

affirm 

amerce 

universe 

term 

confirm 

asperse 

fierce 

worm 

harm 

averse 

farce 

coerce 

course 

ERNf 

converse 

burn 

learn 

churn 

quern 

ERT 

dern 

spurn 

blurt 

pert 

earn 

stern 

curt 

shirt 

fern 

tern 

dirt 

skirt 

hern 

turn 

flirt 

spurt 

kerne 

urn 

hurt 

squirt 

A  whirlpool,  abyss. 

A  black  bituminous  gurge. — Milton. 

Ye  twinkling  sentries  bright, 

My  Matthew  mourn ; 
For  through  your  orbs  he's  ta'en  his  flight 

Never  to  return. 

Burns. 

In  its  palaces 

Sits  lust  alone,  while  o'er  the  land  is  borne 
Her  voice,  whose  awful  sweetness  doth  repress 
All  evil,  and  her  foes  relenting  turn 
And  cast  the  voice  of  love  in  hope's  abandoned  urn. 

Shelley. 

Married  to  immortal  verse 
Such  as  the  melting  soul  may  pierce. 

Milton. 


DICTIONARY  OF  RHYMES, 


335 


vert 

divert 

duress 

repress 

wert 

exert 

express 

sadness 

wort 

expert 

excess 

seamstress 

advert 

inert 

fortress 

sickness 

assert 

insert 

fruitless 

spotless 

avert 

invert 

gladness 

success 

concert 

pervert 

guileless 

tigress 

convert 

subvert 

guiltless 

transgress 

culvert 

controvert 

hopeless 

acquiesce 

desert 

part 

impress 

adultress 

dessert 

jbort 

largess 

bashfulness 

madness 

coalesce 

ERTH  (see  EARTH) 

oppress 
possess 

effervesce 
pennyless 

ERVE 

princess 
profess 

foolhardiness 
pass 

curve 

disserve 

recess 

place 

nerve 

observe 

redress 

serve 

preserve 

And    numerous  compounds    in 

swerve 

reserve 

less  and  ness. 

conserve 

subserve 

deserve 

carve 

ESE 

(see  EESE) 

ES,    ESS 

ESH 

bless 

actress 

flesh 

thresh 

cess 

address 

fresh 

afresh 

chess 

artless 

mesh 

refresh 

cress 

assess 

nesh* 

mash 

dress 

caress 

guess 

compress 

ESK 

less 
mess 
press 

stress 

confess 
congress 
countess 
countless 

desk 
burlesque 
grotesque 

arabesque 
picturesque 
ask 

tress 

depress 

moresque 

risk 

yes 
abbess 

digress 
distress 

ESTf 

abscess 

duchess 

best 

chest 

access 

breast 

crest 

*  Provincialism  :  soft,  tender,  delicate,  easily  hurt. 

f        Rosy  is  the  west, 

Rosy  is  the  south, 
Roses  are  her  cheeks, 
•  And  a  rose  her  mouth. — Tennyson. 


336 


DICTIONARY  OF  RHYMES. 


guest 

divest                    j    regret                  coronet 

jest 

infest                        rosette                epaulette 

lest 

inquest 

roulette               epithet 

nest 

invest                        sestet                  etiquette 

pest 

molest 

serviette             floweret 

quest 

obtest 

signet                  marionette 

rest 

protest 

streamlet            martinet 

test 

request 

target                  mignonette 

vest 

suggest 

ticket                   minaret 

west 

unrest 

toilet                    minuet 

abreast 

interest 

triplet                  novelette 

arrest 

manifest 

upset                   omelette 

attest 

overdrest 

vignette              parapet 

bequest 

palimpsest 

alphabet             parroquet 

contest 

past 

amulet                pirouette 

detest 

-paste 

anchoret             rivulet 

digest 

beast 

basinet                violet 

Also  the  preterites  of  verbs  in 

bayonet              wagonette 

ess  ;  as  express'c 

. 

castinet               bate 

cigarette             beat 

ET, 

ETTE 

bet 

cadet 

ETCH 

debt 

carpet 

fetch                    wretch 

fret 

coquet 

sketch                patch 

Set 

coquette 

stretch                peach 

jet 

corset 

let 
met 

couplet 
cricket 

ETH  (see  EATH) 

net 

cygnet 

set 

diet 

ETE  (see  EAT) 

sweat 

dulcet 

threat 
wet 

fidget 
forget 

EVE  (see  EAVE) 

whet 

gazette 

yet 

hamlet 

EUD  (see  UDE) 

abet 

leaflet 

banquet 
basket 

magnet 
pamphlet 

EUM  (see  UME) 

beget 
beset 

picket 
piquette 

EW  *  compare  OO 

blanket 

quiet 

cue                      few 

bracelet 

quartet 

dew                     hew 

brunette 

quintet 

due                      hue 

V^U*J.iJ.L,  Via  VJ.t4.V- 

*  As  a  virtue  golden  through  and  through, 
And  prove  its  worth  at  a  moment's  view. 

R.  Browning. 


DICTIONARY  OF  RHYMES. 


337 


Jew 
knew 

mildew 
nephew 

EY  (see  AY) 

mew 
new 

perdue 
purlieu 

I  (see 

Y  first  list} 

pew 

pursue 

IB 

sue 

renew 

view 

review 

bib 

nib 

yew 

statue 

crib 

rib 

adieu 

subdue 

drib* 

squib 

anew 

avenue 

glib 

bribe 

askew 

impromptu 

bedew 

interview 

I  BE 

bellevue 
curfew 
emew 
endue 
ensue 
eschew 
imbue 

parvenu 
residue 
retinue 
revenue 
ftew 
coo 

bribe 
kibef 
scribe 
tribe 
ascribe 
describe 

inscribe 
prescribe 
proscribe 
subscribe 
transcribe 
diatribe 

EX 

imbibe 

superscribe 

sex 
vex 

perplex 
reflex 

1C 

(see  ICK) 

annex 

vortex 

apex 

circumflex 

ICEJ 

compare  ISE 

codex 

wax 

complex 
convex 

takes 
likes 

dice 
ice 

spice 
splice 

index 

mice 

rice 

Also  the 
the  preterites 

plurals  of  nouns  and 
of  verbs   in  eck  ;    as 

nice 
price 

thrice 
trice  § 

decks,  recks. 

slice 

*  Cognate  with  dribble,  drip,  drop. 

With  daily  lies  she  dribs  thee  into  cost. — Dryden. 

Rhymes  retailed  in  dribs. — Swift. 
f  A  chap,  chilblain. 

If  a  man's  brains  were  in  his  heels,  were't  not  in  danger  of  kibef. 

Shakspere. 
\  The  critics  of  less  judgment  than  caprice, 

Curious,  not  knowing,  not  exact,  but  nice. — Pope. 

A  wretched  fall : — uplift  thy  charmed  voice, 

Pour  on  those  evil  men  the  love  that  lies,  &c. — Shelley. 

Ye  to  yourselves  suffice 

Without  its  flatteries. — E.  B.  Browning. 
§  A  small  portion,  an  instant,  a  trifle. 

In  this  trice  of  time. — Shakspere. 

He  could  raise  scruples  dark  and  nice 

And  after  solve  them  in  a  trice. — Butler. 


338 


DICTIONARY  OF  RHYMES. 


vice 

sacrifice 

prognostic 

dyspeptic 

advice 

jaundice 

quixotic 

eccentric 

concise 

edifice 

realistic 

epidemic 

device 

kiss 

rhetoric 

hieroglyphic 

entice 

demise 

romantic 

idiomatic 

precise 

size 

schismatic 

morganatic 

suffice 

fleece 

splenetic 

paleocrystic 

paradise 

antiseptic 

panegyric 

antagonistic 

peripatetic 

arithmetic 

prognostic 

ICH 

(see  ITCH) 

beatific 

like 

cabalistic 

leak 

1CK 

brick 

catholic 

chick 

choleric 

ICT 

kick 
lick 
nick 
pick 
quick 
sick 

didactic 
dogmatic 
domestic 
dramatic 
electric 
emetic 

strict 
addict 
afflict 
convict 
conflict 

inflict 
relict 
contradict 
UKd 
leaked 

stick 

emphatic 

Also  the 
ick  ;  as  kick'c 

preterites  of  verbs  in 

thick 

erratic 

tick 

euphonic 

trick 

exotic 

attic 

forensic 

ID 

.arctic 

heretic 

antic 

iambic 

bid 

foetid 

caustic 

fantastic 

chid 

forbid 

chronic 
colic 

lunatic 
lymphatic 

grid 
hid 

frigid 
hybrid 

comic 

magnetic 

kid 

morbid 

critic 

majestic 

lid 

orchid 

cynic 
drastic 

mechanic 
mimetic 

quid 
rid 

placid 
rabid 

hectic 

memphitic 

slid 

solid 

physic 

narcotic 

squid 

sordid 

picnic 
plastic 

nomadic 
pacific 

acid 
amid 

torpid 
turgid 

rustic 

pathetic 

arid 

bide 

acrostic 

phlegmatic 

bestrid 

bead 

agnostic 

plethoric 

eyelid 

free'd 

aquatic 

poetic 

florid 

artistic 
bucolic 

politic 
prophetic 

Also  the  preterites  of  verbs  in 
ry  ;  as  married,  buried. 

DICTIONARY  OF  RHYMES. 


339 


IDE 
bide                    beside 

IJJbl 
didst                   ri&st 

bride                    bestride 

midst                  read'st 

chide                  collide 

amidst 

glide                    confide 

Also  the  second  person  singular 

gride  *                decide 

of  verbs  in  id;  as  bidd'st. 

guide                   deride 

hide                     divide 
nide  t                  misguide 

IE  (see  Y) 

pied  j                  preside 

pride                   provide 

IEF 

ride                      reside 

side                      subside 

beef                     thief 

slide                    parricide 
stride                   regicide 
tide                      subdivide 

brief                   belief 
chief                    relief 
fief                      deaf 

wide                    suicide 

grief                    clef 

abide                   infanticide 
aside                  bead 

lief                      chef 
sheaf                   leaf 

astride                bid 

reef                    cliff 

betide 

Also  the   preterites  of  verbs  in 

IEGE 

ie,  y  ;  as  died,  defied,  and  sigh'd. 

liege                   assiege 

IDES 

siege                  besiege 

Ides                    beads 

IELD 

besides               bids 

Also  the  plurals  of    nouns  and 
the  preterites  of   verbs  in  ide  ;  as 

field                    afield 
shield                 healjd 

tides,  rides. 

weald                 weald 

wield                  gild 

IDGE  compare  AGE 

yield 

bridge                 steerage 

Also  the  preterites  of  verbs  in 
eel;  as  wheel'd. 

fidge                    privilege 

midge                  sacrilege 
ridge                   age 

IEN  (see  EAN) 

abridge              edge 
college 

IEND  (see  END) 

*  Obsolete.    To  smite,  pierce. 

Through  his  thigh  the  mortal  steel  did  gride.— Spenser, 
t  Nest,  or  brood.    A  nide  of  pheasants.—  Johnson. 
\  Of  different  colours,  variegated. 

Meadows  trim,  with  daisies  pied. — Milton. 


340 


DICTIONARY  OF  RHYMES. 


IERCE  (see  SREE) 

sift                       adrift 

thrift                    snowdrift 

tiff'd                    spendthrift 

IES  (see  IS,  ISE) 

whiff't 

IG 

IEST  (see  EAST) 

big                        snig 

dig                        sprig 

IEVE  (see  EAVE) 

fig                         swig 
gig                       twig 

grig                     whig 

jig                        wig 

IF,  IFF 

pig                        whirligig 

cliff 
skiff 

caliph 
dandriff 

prig                      league 
rig                       fatigue 

sniff 

midwife 

stiff 

plaintiff 

IGE 

tiff 

sheriff 

oblige                 siege 

whiff 
caitiff 

hieroglyph 
fife 

(no  rhyme) 

IGH  (see  Y  ',  first  list} 

IFE* 

fife 

strife 

IGHT  (see  ITE) 

knife 

wife 

life 

cliff 

IGN  (see  INE) 

rife 

leaf 

IGUE  (see  EAGUE) 

IFT 

drift 

rift 

ifcEj 

gift 

shift 

dike                     like 

lift 

shrift  f 

glike                    pike 

*  The  memories  of  an  ante-natal  life 

Made  this,  where  now  he  dwelt,  a  penal  hell ; 
And  others  said  that  such  mysterious  grief,  &c. 

Shelter. 

f  Confession ;  from  shrive.    Compare  Shrove  Tuesday. 

J  If  straight  thy  track,  or  if  oblique. 
Thou  knowest  not.     Shadows  thou  dost  strike. 
Embracing  cloud,  Ixion-like. 

Tennyson . 


DICTIONARY  OF  RHYMES. 


341 


shrike 
spike 
strike 
alike 


dislike 
leak 
antique 
lick 


ILD 


gild 
build 
fitfd 


child 

mild  . 

wild 

Also  the    preterites  of  verbs  in 
He;  as  smil'd,  revil'd. 


ILE 

Words  terminating  in  He  with 
the  accent  on  the  penultimate  have 
the  final  i  short  generally;  as  hostile 
(hostil).  The  following  are  ex- 
ceptions :  edile,  exile,  gentile,  pensile, 
profile.  When  the  accent  is  on  the 
antepenultimate  the  same  rule  gen- 
erally holds  good  ;  as  in  juvenile, 
puerile  :  exceptions — camomile,  re- 
concile. Both  sounds,  however,  form 
passable  rhymes.  In  reading  poetry, 
it  is  advisable  to  give  the  long  sound 
to  i  in  all  such  words,  except  when 
rhyme  demands  the  short  one  ;  e.g. 
"  fertile  vales,"  wind  for  wind. 


aisle 

bile 

chyle 

file 

guile 

isle 

mile 

pile 

smile 

stile 

style 


tile 

vile 

while 

awhile 

beguile 

compile 

defile 

edile 

erewhile 

exile 

gentile 


pensile 
revile 
crocodile 
reconcile 


bibliophile 

bill 

boil 


ILL  *  compare  ILE 


bill 

chill 

drill 

fill 

frill 

gill 

grill 

hill 


thrill 

till 

trill 

will 

distil 

fulfil 

idyll 

instil 

missile 

pencil 

peril 

Sibyl 

codicil 

daffodil 

deshabille 

utensil 
file 
feel 
peal 

Also  many  words  in  He  accented 
on  the  penultimate  or  antepenulti. 
mate  syllable  ;  as  fertile,  juvenile- 
(See  note  under  ILE.) 


kill 

mill 

pill 

quill 

rill 

shrill 

skill 

spill 

still 

swill 


bilk  f 
milk 


built 

gilt 

guilt 


ILK 

silk 

ILT 
hilt 

jilt, 
milt 


*  Thy  stone,  O  Sisyphus,  stands  still ; 
Ixion  rests  upon  his  wheel. 

Dry  den. 

\  Vulgar,  to  cheat,  deceive. 

But  be  sure,  says  he,  you  don't  bilk  me. — Addison. 


342 


DICTIONARY  OF  RHYMES. 


quilt 

Stilt         /urt/^" 

IMP 

spilt 

tiit  '  MJT 

gimp 

limp 

ILTH 

imp 

pimp 

jimp 

filth 

spilth  * 

tilth 

IMP5E 

IM 

glimpse 

limps 

brim 

skim 

dim 
glim  t 

slim 
trim 

IN§ 

compare  INE 

grim 

whim 

bin 

griffin 

him 
hymn 
limb 

pilgrim 
pseudonym 
synonym 

chin 
din 

fin 

margin 
maudlin 
muffin 

limn 

time 

gin 

raisin 

prim 

team 

grin 

ruin 

rim 

inn 

sanguine 

IME 

kin 

satin 

lin 

tiffin 

chime 
climb 
clime 

rhyme 
slime 
time 

pin 
shin 
sin 

tocsin 
virgin 
urchin 

crime 

thyme 

skin 

welkin 

grime 

sublime 

spin 

cannakin 

lime 

maritime 

thin 

javelin 

mime  J 

overtime 

tin 

kilderkin 

prime 

him 

twin 

mandolin 

whin 

manikin 

IMES 

win 

origin 

betimes 

beams 

akin 

palanquin 

sometimes 

swims 

begin 

violin 

Also  the  plurals  of  nouns,  and 
the  third  person  singular  of  verbs  in 

buskin 
chagrin 

dine 
deaii 

ime  ;  as  times,  rhymes. 

codlin 

machine 

*  Nearly  obsolete.     From  spill,  used  by  Shakspere  and  Browning. 
t  Nautical.     A  light.     "  Dowse  the  glim." 

J  One  who  mimics,  a  buffoon,  a  farce.     "  Scaliger  defines  a  mime  to  be 
a  poem  imitating  any  action  to  stir  up  laughter."— Milton. 
§  Death  forerunneth  love,  to  win 
Sweetest  eyes  were  ever  seen. 

E.  B.  Browning. 
|!  And  let  me  the  canakin  clink  : 
A  soldier's  a  man, 
A  life's  but  a  span, 
Why  then,  let  the  soldier  driuk. 
Shakspere. 


DICTIONARY  OF  RHYMES. 


343 


INCE 

fine 

entwine 

kine 

incline 

mince                  since 

linee 

indign 

prince                 wince 

min 

opine 

quince                 convince 

nine 

recline 

rinse                    evince 

pine 

refine 

INCH 

shine 
sign 

repine 
saline 

clinch                  pinch 
finch                     winch 

sine 
shrine 

supine 
alkaline 

inch 

syne 
thine 

brigantine 
columbine 

INCT 

trine 

concubine 

twine 

countermine 

link'd                   instinct 

vine 

crystalline 

tinct                    precinct 

whine 

incarnadine 

distinct               succinct 

wine 

interline 

extinct 

assign 

leonine 

IND* 

combine 
condign 

porcupine 
superfine 

bind                    wind 

confine 

turpentine 

blind                   behind 

consign 

undermine 

find                     remind 

decline 

tin 

grind                   unkind 

define 

genuine 

kind                    rescind 

design 

heroine 

mind                   joined 

divine 

adamantine 

rind 

enshrine 

loin 

Also  the  preterites  of  verbs  in 

ine  ;  as  twin'd. 

INE  compare  EAN 

ING 

There  is  no  certain  rule  as  to 

bring 

string 

the  letter  i  in  the  suffix  ine  being 
long  or  short,  but  in  either  case  words 
so  ending  form  passable  rhymes.     It 
is  long  in  feline,  confine,  crystalline, 
turpentine,    &c.  ;    short  in   genuine, 
heroine,  jessamine,    medicine,     &c.  ; 

cling 
ging 
fling 
king 
ring 

swing 
thing 
wing 
wring1 
darling 

in  such  words  as   alkaline,    uterine, 
custom  is  unsettled. 

sing 
sling 

foundling 
starling 

brine                   dine 

spring 

sterling 

chine                   eyne  t 

sting 

stripling 

*  Best  seemed  the  thing  he  was,  a.nd  joined — 
And  native  growth  of  noble  mind. 

Tennyson. 

f  This  archaic  plural  cf  eye  is  formed  regularly  by  the  old  suffix  en;  as  in 
oxen,  eyen,  eyne. 


344 


DICTIONARY  OF  RHYMES. 


suckling  underling 

yearling 

Also  the  present  participles  of 
verbs,  and  participial  adjectives  in 
ing ;  as  drinking,  laughing. 

INGE 


cringe 
dinge 
fringe 
hinge 
singe 
springe 
swinge 

tinge 
twinge 
lozenge 
infringe 
orange 
syringe 

blink 

brink 

chink 

clink 

drink 

ink 

link 

pink 

rink 

shrink 


dint 

flint 

hint 

lint 

mint 

print 


INK 


sink 

skink 

slink 

stink 

swink 

think 

wink 

zinc 

bethink 

forethink 


INT 


quint 

squint 

tint 

asquint 

imprint 


INTH 

hyacinth 
labyrinth 

INX 
sphinx 


chip 

clip 

dip 

drip 

hip 

lip 

nip 

rip 

pip 

scrip 

ship 

sip 

skip 

slip 

snip 

strip 

tip 

trip 


gripe 

pipe 

ripe 

snipe 

stripe 

type 


IP 

whip 
courtship 
cowslip 
equip 
friendship 
gossip 
hardship 
horsewhip 
landslip 
township 
tulip 
turnip 
worship 
fellowship 
workmanship 
.  wipe 
weep 


IPE 


wipe 

archetype 

prototype 

stereotype 

tip 

weep 


IPSE 

Eclipse — rhymes  with  the 
plurals  of  nouns,  and  the  third 
person  singular  of  verbs  in  ip ;  as 
nips,  clips. 

pipes  wipes 

IQUE  (see  EAK) 

IR  (see  ER) 

IRCH  (see  URCH) 

IRD  (see  URD) 


DICTIONARY  OF  RHYMES. 


345 


IRE  compare  AR,  ER 


dire 
^re- 
gyre 
hire 
ire 
lyre 
mire 
pyre 
quire 
sire 
spire 
squire 
tire 
wire 
acquire 
admire 


aspire 
attire 
conspire 
desire 
entire 
expire 
inspire 
inquire 
require 
retire 
satire 
transpire 
umpire 
friar 
prior 
satyr 


IRGE  (see  ERGE) 

IRK 

burke  murk 

dirk  perk  * 

firk  quirk  f 

jerk  smirk 

kirk  stirk 

lurk  work 


IRL  (see  URL) 


IRM 

chirm  affirm 

firm  confirm 

term  infirm 
worm 


IRST  (see  URST) 
I  RT  (see  ERT) 

IRTHJ 

birth  mirth 

dearth  worth 

earth  north 


IS,  1Z  § 

his  whiz 

fizz  breeches 

phiz  rise 

Also  the  plurals  of  many  nouns 
in  cy,  sy ;  as  mercies. 


*  From  perch,  to  set  up,  pert,  proud. 

To  be  perked  up  in  glistering  grief.— Shakespere. 
Pert  as  a  peacock. — Spenser. 
f  A  jerk,  twist,  quick  stroke,  quibble,  retort. 

Iv'e  felt  so  many  quirks  of  joy  and  grief.— Shakspere. 

1  may  chance  have  some  odd  quirks  and  remnants  of  wit  broken  on  me. 

Shakspere. 

Like  quirks  of  music,  broken  and  uneven. — Pope. 

I  Or  when  the  deep  green-mantled  Earth 
Warm-cherish'd  every  flow'ret's  birth, 
And  joy  and  music  pouring  forth 
In  every  grove. 

Burns. 

§  Dissolve  me  into  ecstasies, 
And  bring  all  heaven  before  mine  eyes. 
Milton. 


346 


DICTIONARY  OF  RHYMES. 


bliss 

hiss 

kiss 

miss 

spiss 

this 

wis 

abyss 

amis 

axis 

chalice 

crisis 

dais 

dismiss 

gratis 

jaundice 

lattice 

lettuce 

notice 

novice 

phthisis 

remiss 


guise 

prize 

rise 

size 

wise 


ISS  * 

devise 

exercise 

disguise 

idolise 

service 
thesis 
analysis 
antithesis 
artifice 
chrysalis 
emphasis 
paralysis 
prejudice 
prolapsis 
synthesis 
verdigris 

excise 
premise 
revise 
supplies 
surmise 
surprise 
agonise 
authorise 
canonise 
catechise 
circumcise 
civilise 

pulverise 
realise 
improvise 
sacrifise 
signalise 
solemnise 
summarise 
sympathise 
tyrannise 
immortalise 
systematise 
ice 

amanuensis 

criticise 

hiss 

aposiopesis 
diagnosis 
metamorphosis 
metempsychosis 

enterprise 

Also  the 
of  verbs  in  y  ; 

third  person  singular 
as  cries,  tries. 

metropolis 

necropolis 

parenthesis 

ISH 

nice 

lease 

cuish  J 

parish 

dish 

perish 

fish 

radish 

Di  pare  ICE 

pish 

relish 

advise 

banish 

squeamish 

assize 

cherish 

rubbish 

chastise 

finish 

astonish 

comprise 

flourish 

demolish 

despise 

nourish 

*  When  beneath  the  palace  lattice, 

You  ride  slow  as  you  have  done, 
And  you  see  a  face  there — that  is 
Not  the  old  familiar  one. 

E.  B.  Browning. 

f  If  all  was  good  and  fair  we  met, 

This  earth  had  been  the  Paradise 
It  never  looked  to  human  eyes 
Since  our  first  sun  arose  and  set. 

Tennyson. 

I  Or  cuisse  :  the  armour  for  the  thigh. 

I  saw  young  Harry  with  his  bearer  on, 
His  cuishes  on  his  thigh,  gallantly  armed, 
Rise  from  the  ground  like  feathered  Mercury, 
Shakspere. 


DICTIONARY  OI'  RHYMES. 


347 


ISK 

'    persist 

pessimist 

brisk 
disc 
frisk 
risk 
whisk 

basilisk 
obelisk 
odalisque 
tamarisk 

resist 
i    sophist 
j    subsist 
alchemist 
amethyst 
annalist 

pianist 
pugilist 
rhapsodist 
ritualist 
satirist 
socialist 

!    analyst 

vocalist 

ISM 

bigamist 

anatomist 

dogmatist 

antagonist 

chrism 

nepotism 

eucharist 

diplomatist 

prism 

organism 

exorcist 

evangelist 

schism 

occultism 

herbalist 

rationalist 

abysm 

optimism 

humourist 

ic'd 

altruism 

pantheism 

oculist 

sliced 

baptism 

pessimism 

optimist 

lac'd 

deism 

plagiarism 

organist 

theism 

radicalism 

Also  the 

preterites  of  verbs  in 

truism 

realism 

iss  ;  as  hiss'd 

aphorism 

socialism 

barbarism 

solecism 

IT 

cataclysm 
criticism 

stoicism 
syllogism 

bit 

commit 

egotism 
euphemism 
euphuism 
heroism 

vandalism 
vulgarism 
witticism 
anachronism 

cit 
chit 
fit 
flit 

emit 
forfeit 
hermit 
minute 

hypnotism 
mesmerism 
mysticism 

malthusianism 
chasm 

grit 
hit 
knit 
pit 

omit 
outwit 
orbit 
permit 

quit 

pewit 

ISP 

sit 

rabbit 

split 

refit 

crisp 

wisp 

twit 

remit 

lisp 

whit 

submit 

wit 

transmit 

1ST 

1    writ 

benefit 

acquit 

Jesuit 

fist 

chemist 

admit 

perquisite 

list 

consist 

biscuit 

beat 

mist 

desist 

bowsprit 

bite 

twist 

dentist 

whist 

exist 

ITCH 

wrist 

insist 

assist 

linguist 

bitch 

fitch 

artist 

papist 

ditch 

flitch 

348 


DICTIONARY  OF  RHYMES. 


hitch                   which 

incite 

disunite 

itch                      witch 

indict 

appetite 

niche                   bewitch 

indite 

coanobite 

stitch                   enrich 

invite 

dynamite 

switch                etch 

midnight 

expedite 

pitch                   hatch 

moonlight 

oversight 

rich                      botch 

polite 

parasite 

twitch 

recite 

proselyte 

requite 

reunite 

TTF  * 

twilight 

satellite 

A  -L  J_> 

unite 

stalactite 

In  the  suffix  ite  the  i  is  long  in 
the  great  majority  of  words,  as  it  is 
in  all  proper  adjectives,  like  Puseyite. 
In  the  following  it  is  short  :    respite, 
granite,  favourite,  infinite,  hypocrite, 
apposite,  requisite,  &c. 

upright 
zoophyte 
aconite 
acolyte 
anchorite 

sybarite 
archimandrite 
wit 

favourite 
eight 

bite                      slight 

blight                  smite 

ITHJ 

bright                  spite 

cite                     sprite 

frith 

sith 

dight  f                tight 
fight                    trite 

kith 
pith 

smith 
zenith 

flight                   white 

with 

fright                  wight 

(this  word  has  no  perfect  rhyme) 

height                write 

kite                     accite 

knight                affright 

ITHE 

light                   alight 

blithe 

tithe 

mite                    aright 

hithe 

writhe 

night                   bedight 

lithe 

with 

pight                   benight 

scythe 

plight                  contrite 

quite                    delight 
right                   despite 

IVE 

(as  in  dive) 

rite                      excite 

dive 

five 

s  ght                   foresight 

drive 

gyve 

*  Nor  lose  for  that  malignant  dull  delight, 
The  generous  pleasure  to  be  charmed  with  wit. 

Pope. 
f  Obsolete :  to  dress,  deck. 

Storied  windows  richly  dight, 
Casting  a  dim,  religious  light. 

Milton. 

J  From  the  noontide  zenith  ; 

Named  as  fancy  weeneth. 

E.B.  Browning. 


DICTIONARY   OF  RHYMES. 


349 


hive 

connive 

mechani< 

rive 

contrive 

hydrosta 

shrive 

deprive 

Also  th 

strive 

derive 

as  bricks. 

thrive 

revive 

alive 

survive 

] 

arrive 

IVE* 

(as  in  give) 

give 
live 
sieve 

perspective 
positive 
punitive 

ago 
beau 
dough 

£f\C* 

active 
forgive 

purgative 
relative 

lOc 

fro 

furtive 

sensitive                   &u 

massive 

subjective 

noe 
i_ 

motive 

talkative 

10 

native 

affirmative 

mo 

outlive 
passive 

contemplative 
demonstrative 

no 
oh 

pensive 
restive 
suasive 
votive 

diminutive 
distributive 
imaginative 
inquisitive 

roe 

sloe 
though 
throe 

fugitive 
laxative 
narrative 

prerogative 
submissive 
restorative 

woe 
ago 
banjo 

objective 

bureau 
chapeau 

IX 

chateau 

cocoa 

fix 

onyx 

dado 

six 

prefix 

depot 

mix 

statics 

echo 

nix 

transfix 

grotto 

affix 

crucifix 

gusto 

matrix 

intermix 

negro 

mathematics 
rheumatics 

Also  the  plurals  of  nouns  in  icks 


IZE  (see  ISE) 

O 

photo 

plateau 

polo 

quarto 

rondeau 

solo 

stingo 

zero 

apropos 

calico 

cameo 

comme  il  faut 

domino 

de  novo 

embryo 

falsetto 

fandango 

folio 

indigo 

in  petto 

libretto 

mistletoe 

mulatto 

octavo 

piano 

portmanteau 

sirocco 

soprano 


We  lived  a  day  as  we  were  wont  to  live, 
But  Nature  had  a  robe  of  glory  on, 
And  the  bright  air  o'er  every  shape  did  weave 
Intenser  hues. 

Shelley. 

Wasps  in  a  bottle,  frogs  in  a  sieve, 
Worms  in  a  carcase,  fleas  in  a  sleeve. 

R.  Browning. 


350 


DICTION AR  Y  OF  RHYMES. 


stiletto                braggadocio 

OAT  (see  OTE) 

tobacco               imbroglio 

tomato                magnifico 

tornado               innuendo 

OATH  (see  OTH) 

torpedo               oratorio 

virago                 peccadillo 

volcano               seraglio 

OB 

adagio                generalissimo 
duodecimo          quid  pro  quo 

bob 
cob 

sob 
squab 

fob 

swab 

OACH 

hob 

throb 

broach                encroach 
brooch                reproach 
coach                  £orch 
loach                   notch 
poach                   much 

lob 
knob 
mob 
nob 
rob 

cabob 
hobnob 
nabob 
orb 
globe 

abroach             church 

approach 

OBE 

OAD  (see  ODE) 

globe 
lobe 

conglobe 
rob 

probe 

rub 

OAF  (see  OFF) 

robe 

OAK  (see  OKE) 

OCE  (see  OSE) 

OAL  (see  OLE) 

OCR 

OAM  (see  OME) 

block 
brock 

stock 
toque 

cock 

rock 

OAN  (see  ONE) 

clock 
crock 

bannock 
bullock   * 

dock 

havoc 

OAP  (see  OPE) 

flock 

haycock 

• 

frock 

hillock 

OAR  (see  ORE) 

hough 
knock 

padlock 
peacock 

lock 

pibroch 

OARD  (see  ORD) 

lough 
mock 

shamrock 
oak 

shock 

look 

OAST  (see  OST) 

sock 

buck 

DICTIONAR  Y  OF  RHYMES. 


351 


OCX 

ODGE 

decoct 

cook'd 

bodge 

lodge 

concoct 

yok'd 

dodge 

podge 

Also 

the  preterites  of  verbs  in 

ock  ;  as  shock'd. 

OFF 

cod 
clod 
God 
hod 

OD* 
rod 
shod 
sod 
tod 

cough 
doff 
off 
scoff 

trough 
loaf 
roof 
rough 

nod 

trod 

odd 

wad 

r^\Tt"~r 

plod 

ode 

Ur  1 

pod 

ow'd 

croft 

soft 

quad 

blood 

cough'd 

scofFd 

quod 

oft 

aloft 

ODE  f 

bode 

commode 

OG,  OGUE 

code 

corrode 

bog 

shog 

goad 
load 
mode 
node 
ode 

explode 
forebode 
a-la-mode 
episode 
incommode 

clog 
cog 
dog 
grogt 
hog 

agog 
prologue 
catalogue 
demagogue 
dialogue 

road 

ow'd 

fog 

epilogue 

rode 

hood 

frog 

pedagogue 

toad 
woad 

hod 
fraud 

jog 
log 

synagogue 
rogue 

abode 

prog 

prorogue 

*       "An  honest  man's  the  nobl'st  work  of  God  "  ; 
And  certes  in  fair  virtue's  heavenly  road 

The  cottage  leaves  the  palace  far  behind  : 
What  is  a  lordling's  pomp  ?  a  cumbrous  load. 

Burns. 

Eight  times  emerging  from  the  flood, 
She  mew'd  to  every  watery  God. 

Cowpcr. 

f  In  vain  the  barns  expect  their  promis'd  load, 
Nor  barns  at  home,  nor  ricks  are  heaped  abroad. 

Dryden. 

J  "  Old  Grog  "  was  a  nickname  for  Admiral  Vernon  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  on  account  of  remarkable  gogram  overalls  he  wore  in  bad  weather. 
It  was  then  applied  to  a*  mixture  of  hot  spirits,  which  he  was  the  first  to 
introduce. 


352 


DICTIONARY  OF  RHYMES. 


OICE*  compare  OISE 

choice  vice 

voice  wise 

rejoice  toys 


OID 

amyloid 
cycloid 
spheroid 
bide 


void 

avoid 

devoid 

asteroid 

alkaloid 

Also  the  preterites  of  verbs  in 
oy ;  as  buoy'd. 


boil 

coil 

foil 

moil 

oil 

soil 

spoil 

toil 


coin 

foin 

groin 

join 

loin 


OIL  f 

dsepoil 

embroil 

recoil 

turmoil 

mile 

cole 

while 

OIN 

proin 

quoin 

adjoin 

disjoin 

enjoin 


purloin 
rejoin 
subjoin 
sirloin 


joint 

oint 

point 

anoint 

appoint 


fine 

thine 

sigji 


OINT 


aroynt \ 

disjoint 

counterpoint 

disappoint 

pint 


OISE§  compare  OICE 

noise  wise 

poise  sighs 

counterpoise       tries 
equipoise  voice 

Also  the  plurals  of  nouns,  and 
the  preterite  of  verbs  in  oy ;  as  toys, 
employs. 


OIST 


foist 
hoist 
moist 


coit 
doit  || 
quoit 


rejoic'd 
splic1  d 


OIT 

adroit 
exploit 
dacoit 


And  sits  among  his  boys ; 
He  hears  the  parson  pray  and  preach  ; 

He  hears  his  daughter's  voice. — Longfellow. 
f  Some  soothe  the  lab'rer's  weary  toil 

For  humble  gains, 
And  make  his  cottage  scenes  beguile 
His  cares  and  pains. — Burns. 
\  Plague  on  you  !  Begone ! 

Aroynt  thee,  witch,  aroynt  thee! — Shakspere. 
§  When  ripen'd  fields  and  azure  skies, 

Call'd  forth  the  reaper's  rustling  noise. — Burns. 

||  Through  the  French  doigt,  finger.     "  As  much  brass  as  can  be  covered 
with  the  tip  of  the  finger";  a  small  Dutch  and  Scotch  coin  ;  any  small  piece. 
When  they  will  not  give  a  doit  to    relieve  a  lame  beggar,  they  will  lay/ 
out  ten  to  see  a  dead  Indian. — Shakspere. 

He  slept,  poor  dog  !  and  lost  it  (purse  of  gold)  to  a  doit. — Pope. 


DICTIONARY  OF  RHYMES. 


353 


OKE 


OLEf  compare  OWL 


broke 

yoke 

bole 

whole 

cloak 

yolk 

coal 

cajole 

croak 

awoke 

dole 

condole 

folk 

bespoke 

droll 

console 

joke 

invoke 

foal 

Creole 

oak 

revoke 

goal 

parole 

poke 

artichoke 

hole 

pistole 

smoke 

rook 

jole 

aureole 

soak 

work 

mole 

girandole 

spoke 

walk 

pole 

firasole 

stroke 

role 

owl 

shoal 

owl 

OT 

sole 

full 

\J  A-* 

stole 

fool 

doll 

alcohol 

loll 

capitol 

poll 

droll 

OLN 

carol 
extol 

hole 
all 

stol'n 

swol'n 

awl 

OLT 

OLD 

bolt 

moult 

bold 

behold 

colt 

thunderbolt 

cold 

cuckold 

dolt 

fault 

fold 

enfold 

holt 

malt 

gold 

foretold 

hold 

freehold 

mould 

unfold 

OLVE 

old 
scold 
sold 
told 
wold 

uphold 
withhold 
manifold 
marigold 
pulfd 

solve 
absolve 
convolve 
devolve 

dissolve 
involve 
resolve 
revolve 

Also 
oil,  ole,  o 

the  preterites  of  verbs  in 
zc'Z  ;  as  roll'd,  bowl'd. 

OM  see  UM 

*  So  strong  they  struck, 

There  seemed  less  force  required  to  fell  an  oak. 

Dryden. 

f  The  lightnings  flash  from  pole  to  pole, 
Near  and  more  near  the  thunders  roll. 

Brnce. 

This  foot  once  planted  on  the  goal, 
This  glory-garland  round  my  soul. 

R.  Browning, 


354 


DICTIONARY  OF  RHYMES. 


OMB  see  OOM 

OME  compare  OOM 

dome  tome 

foam  hum 

home  come 

loam  dumb 
mome 
roam 


pomp 
romp 


tomb 

OMP 

swamp 

ON  *  compare  UN 


con  pardon 

don  parson 

gone  poison 

swan  prison 

anon  reason 

arson  season 

bonbon  squadron 

canon  tendon 

cannon  amazon 

colon  battalion 

felon  cinnamon 

iron  clarion 

lemon  dies  ncn 

jargon  environ 

mammon  halcyon 

*  See!  the  lightnings  yawn 

Deluging  heaven  with  fire,  and  the  lash'd  deeps 
Glitter  and  boil  beneath  :  it  rages  on, 
One  mighty  stream,  whirlwind  and  waves  upthrown. 

Shelley.- 

Like  whirlpools  of  fire-flowing  iron, 
With  splendour  and  terror  the  black  ship  environ 

Shelley 

That  low  man  goes  on  adding  one  to  one ; 
That  high  man  aiming  at  a  million. 

R.  Browning. 

f  I  heard,  alone, 

The  pity  and  the  love  of  every  tone  : 
But  to  the  snake  those  accents  sweet  were  known — 

but  winding  on. 

Shelley. 


horizon 

criterion 

lexicon 

diapason 

million 

phenomenon 

myrmidon 

sine  qua  non 

orison 

run 

pro  et  con 

won 

simpleton 

own 

automaton 

ONCE 

(sec  UNCE) 

OND 

bond 

despond 

conn'd 

second 

donn'd 
fond 

correspond 
diamond 

pond            • 

vagabond 

abscond 

stuntfd 

almond 

moarfd 

beyond 

ONEt 

compare  OWN 

bone 

moan 

cone 

prone 

drone 

stone 

groan 

tone 

hone 

throne 

loan 

zone 

lone 

alone 

DICTIONARY  OF  RHYMES. 


355 


atone                   undertone 

rue 

cuckoo 

dethrone             own 

screw 

debut 

enthrone             dawn 

shrew 

imbrue 

postpone             moon 
monotone           dun 

slew 
threw 

shampoo 
taboo 

telephone 

through 

tattoo 

too 

undo 

ONG  * 

true 

withdrew 

long                     among1 
prong                   belong 

two 
who 

yahoo 
billet-doux 

song                    ding-dong 
strong                 prolong 
thong                  bon-vivant 
throng                  hung 
wrong                  tongue 
along 

woo 
you 
accrue 
ado 
bamboo 
bas-blue 

entre  nous 
cockatoo 
kangaroo 
knew 

hue 
go 

canoe 

ONK  (see  UNK) 

OODf 

compare  UJ),  UDK 

ONSE  (see  UNCE) 

brood 

woo'd 

brew'd 

feud 

ONT  compare  UNT 
ont                     don't 

coo'd 
food 
mood 

attitude 
good 
cztd 

want                    wont 

rude 

front 

OO  compare  EW 

' 

OOF 

blew                    crew 

blue                     drew 

hoof 

behoof 

brew                    glue 

oof  J 

disproof 

chew                   grew 

proof 

reproof 

clue                     coup 

roof 

rujf 

coo                      fou 

woof 

e  no  ti  oil 

loo                       canoe 

aloof 

off  ^ 

*  When  youthful  love,  warm-blushing,  strong, 
Keen-shiv'ring  shot  thy  nerves  along, 
Those  accents  grateful  to  thy  tongue,  &c. 

Burns. 

f  When  mankind  doth  strive 
With  its  oppressors  in  a  strife  of  blood, 
Or  when  free  thoughts,  like  lightnings,  are  alive 
And  in  each  bosom  of  the  multitude 
Justice  and  truth,  with  Custom's  hydra  brood, 
Wuge  silent  war. 

Shelley. 

+  Slang  ;  coin,  "  the  needful." 


DICT1ONAR  Y  OF  RHYMES. 


OOK  compare  UCK* 

soon 

poltroon    , 

book                    shook 
brook                  took 
cook                    betook 
crook                   forsook 
fluke                    mistook 
hook                     undertook 
look                      buck 
rook                      broke 

spoon 
swoon 
balloon 
basoon 
buffoon 
cartoon 
cocoon 
dragoon 
festoon 

pontoon 
quadroon 
shalloon 
simoon 
typhoon 
honeymoon 
octoroon 
pantaloon 
tune 

lagoon 

hewn 

OOL  compare  ULE 

lampoon 

dun 

buhl                     tool 

monsoon 

moan 

cool                      befool 

fool                      cesspool 

OOP 

pool           .         pule 
rule                     pull                         C.°°P 

stoop 

school                 pole 

droop 

stoup 

spool                   rote 
stool 

group 
hoop 

troop 
whoop 

loop 

nincompoop 

poop 
OOM  compare  UMEf        ;    scoop 

dupe 
hope 

bloom                  tomb 

sloop 

hop 

doom                   whom 

soup 

gloom                  womb 

groom                 entomb 

OOR  compare  ORE,  URE 

loom                    spume 
plume                  home 

boor 

detour 

rheum                 comb 

moor 

paramour 

room                    thumb 

poor 

bore 

spoom 

sure 

door 

L 

tour 

Pure 

OON  compare  UN'E 

your 

amour 

power 
towe? 

boon                     noon 

contour 

croon                    prune 

moon                   shoon  t 

OO 

SE  (SLV  i:CE> 

*  The  mother  cow  must  wear  a  low'ring  look, 
Sour-headed,  strongly  neck'd,  to  bear  the  yoke. 

Dry  den. 

f  Alas  !  regardless  of  their  doom, 

The  little  victims  play  ! 
No  sense  have  they  of  ills  to  come.— Gray. 

I  Provincialism.     Plural  of  shoe. 


DICTIONARY 


RHY-MKS. 


357 


QOT  compare  UTE 

boot 

soot  * 

coot 

cheroot 

flute 

uproot 

hoot 

vote. 

loot 

coat 

moot 

foot 

root 

got 

shoot 

OO 

THf 

booth 

youth 

smooth 

truth 

soothe 

uncouth 

tooth 

both 

00  VE 

(see  OVE) 

OOZE 

(sec  USE) 

OP 

chop 

prop 

crop 

shop 

drop 

slop 

flop 

strop 

fop 

sop 

hop 

stop 

mop 

swop 

P<>P 

top 

bishop 

develop 

collop 

envelop 

gallop 

(-<>/)<- 

scallop 

cup 

trollop 

coop 

OPE 

cope 

elope 

hope 

antelope 

grope 

envelope 

mope 

heliotrope 

ope 

horoscope 

pope 

interlope 

rope 

kaleidoscope 

soap 

microscope 

scope 

misanthrope 

slope 

telescope 

trope 

hoop 

aslope 

hop 

OR} 

compare.   KR,   ORE 

corps 

flavour 

tor 

horror 

war 

honour 

abhor 

labour 

anchor 

mirror 

author 

motor 

doctor 

parlour 

donor 

prior 

hector 

sailor 

This  word  may  rhyme  with  boot  or  but. 

Betray  sweet  Jenny's  unsuspecting  youth  ? 

Curse  on  his  perjured  arts  !  dissembling  smooth. — Burns. 

And  all  hearts  pray,  "  God  love  her !  " 
Ay,  and  certes,  in  good  sooth, 
We  may  all  be  sure  He  doth." 

E.  B.  Browning. 

Would  I  had  been  some  maiden  coarse  and  poor! 

O  me,  that  I  should  ever  see  the  light  ! 
Those  dragon  eyes  of  anger'd  Eleanor 

Do  haunt  me  day  and  night. — Tennyson. 

I  will  look  out  to  his  future, 

Should  he  ever  be  a  suitor.—!-:.  H.  Browning. 


358 


D1CT1OXARY  OF  RHYMES. 


sculptor 

metaphor 

floor 

ndore 

stupor 

orator 

four 

afore 

suitor 

saviour 

gore 

ashore 

tailor 

senator 

lore 

claymore 

tenor 

warrior 

more 

deplore 

traitor 

alligator 

oar 

encore 

tutor 

ambassador 

o'er 

explore 

vendor 

competitor 

ore 

forebore 

victor 

conspirator 

pore 

foreswore 

ancestor 

excelsior 

pour 

implore 

auditor 

progenitor 

roar 

restore 

bachelor 

solicitor 

score 

albicore 

chancellor 

awe 

shore 

hellebore 

conqueror 

caw                JLf^    snore 

heretofore 

creator 

bore  Sf^^5^        soar 

sycamore 

creditor 

hofir 

sore 

troubadour 

counsellor 

pour 

store 

poor 

emperor 

err 

swore 

tout- 

governor 

sir 

tore 

hour 

whore 

power 

ORCE 

(sec  ORSE) 

wore 

tower 

yore 

ORCH 


porch 

scorch 

torch 


board 

cord 

ford 

hoard 

horde 

lord 

roar'd 

sword 

abhorr'd 


march 

lurch 

birch 


ORD 


aboard 

accord 

afford 

implor'd 

record 

word 

bird 

stirr'd 

code 


ORE  compare  OOR 


boar 
bore 


core 
door 


forge 

gorge 

disgorge 


ORGE 

regor 
urge 

dirge 


OKK  compare  ALK 

cork  stork 

fork  walk 

ork  work 

pork  coke 


ORM 


form 

storm 

conform 

deform 

inform 

perform 

reform 


transform 
misinform 

multiform 

uniform 

arm 

worm 


DICTIONARY  OF  RHYMES. 


359 


ORN  compare  AWN               retort 

taut  * 

born 
borne 

ou&ht 
foresworn                 caught 
forlorn 

hurt 
shirt 

corn 

lovelorn 

horn 

suborn 

ORTH 

lorn 

Capricorn              ;    forth 

worth 

morn 

chloroform               fourth 

earth 

scorn 

multiform                 north 

mirth 

shorn 

overborne                wrath 

sorn 

thunderstorm 

sworn 

unicorn 

OS 

(see  OSS) 

thorn 

uniform 

torn 

bourn 

OSE,  OZE  t 

worn 

mourn 

.adorn 

urn 

chose 

expose 

foreborne            concern 

close  (verb) 

foreclose 

doze 

impose 

foes 

oppose 

ORSE,  ORCE 

froze 
goes 

propose 
repose 

coarse 
corse 
course 
force 
horse 
morse 

endorse 
remorse 
unhorse 
worse 

hearse 
purse 

glose  \ 
hose 
nose 
pose 
prose 
rose 
those 

suppose 
transpose 
discompose 
interpose 
presuppose 
recompose 
gross 

torse 

toes 

dose 

arose 

jocose 

ORT 

compare  OUGHT 

compose 
depose 

morose 
bellicose 

court 

wart                         disclose 

choose 

fort 

cohort                   i    dispose 

lose. 

mort 

consort 

enclose 

glows 

port 

distort 

short 

exhort 

OSS 

snort 

extort 

sort 

report 

boss 

doss 

tort 

resort 

cross 

dross 

*  Nautical  term :  tight  (Dana). 

f  Yet  all  beneath  the  unrivall'd  rose 
The  lovely  daisy  sweetly  blows. — Burns 

I  To  flatter,  wheedle,  gloss  over. 

So  glosed  the  tempter. — Milton. 


360 


DICTIONARY  OJ-   RHYMhS. 


loss 

moss 

across 

bathos 

chaos 

emboss 


cost 

frost 

lost 

toss'd 

accost 

holocaust 


biot 

clot 

cot 

got 

grot 

hot 

jot 

knot 

lot 


albatross 
asbestos 
close 
dose 


OST* 

exhaust 
ghost 
post 
toast 
must 
roost 


OTf 

not 

plot 

pot 

quat 

rot 

shot 

sot 

spot 

squat 


trot 

yacht 

allot 

ballot 

bigot 

boycot 

complot 

forgot 

apricot 


blotch 
botch 
i    crotch 


i  bloat 
;  boat 
i  coat 
•  dote} 
i  float 
;  goat 
I  gloat 

groat 
:   lote 

moat 


counterplot 

idiot 

melilot 

polyglot 

vote 


f 
ut 

ought 


OTCH 

notch 
watch 

such 

OTE 

mote 

note 

quote 

rote 

smote 

throat 

tote 

vote 

wrote 


As  silent  as  a  ghost — 
\Yith  solemn  speed,  and  stunning  music  cross' d. 

Shelley. 

I  feel  it  when  I  sorrow  most : 
'Tis  better  to  have  loved  and  lost, 
Than  never  to  have  loved  at  all. 

Tennyson. 

t  For  many  a  beast  to  dead  she  shot, 
And  perish 'd  mony  a  bonnie  boat. 

Burns. 

And  mercy,  encouraging  thought ! 
Gives  even  affliction  a  grace, 
And  reconciles  man  to  his  lot. 

Cowper. 

Still  moving  after  truth  long  sought, 
Will  learn  new  things  when  I  am  not. 

Tennyson. 
\  To  rave,  to  drivel,  be  overfond. 

I  never  knew  a  woman,  so  dote  upon  a  man. 
Shaksperc. 


DICTIONARY  OF  RHYMES, 


afloat 

antidote                                        OUGH 

denote 
devote 
lifeboat 

asymptote 
petticoat 
table  d'h6te    ' 

This  much  abused  combination 
of  letters—  the  terror  of  foreigners 
who   try  to  speak  our  tongue  —  has 

misquote 

flout 

no  fewer  than  nine  different  sounds. 

promote 

cot 

as  enumerated  below. 

remote 

boot 

cough         as  in     off 

anecdote 

chough  , 

rough    \ 

OTH 

slough  >        ,,         stuff 
sough    \ 

broth 

troth 

tough    ') 

cloth 

wrath 

1          V.    (           '  •             COW 

froth 

oath 

plough  ) 

moth 
sloth 

growth 
doth 

hough  }                  i     , 
lough    (        " 
hiccough      ,,         cup 

slough           ,,         slow 

OTHE 

(see  OOTH) 

through         ,,        too 
dough     )                 t 

clothe 

sooth 

.      though   (       • 

loathe 

smooth 

ou£ht     }                 awe 

thought  j 

OU  (see 

OO  and  OW) 

OUGHT  compare  ORT 

aught                  taught 

OUCH 

bought                 thought 

brought               wrought 

couch 

vouch 

caught               besought 

crouch 

avouch 

fought                 bethought 

ouch 

barouche 

fraught                forethought 

pouch 

coach 

naught                methought 

slouch 

such 

nought                knot 

ought                 yacht 

sought                note 

OUD 

cloud 

enshroud 

OUL  (see  OLE,  OWL) 

crowd 

o'ercloud 

loud 

o'ershroud 

OULD  (see  OLD,  UD) 

proud 

floufd 

shroud 
aloud 

flood 
mud 

OUNCE 

Also    the 

preterites    of  some 

bounce               ounce 

verbs  in  orj  ; 

as  bow'd. 

flounce                pounce 

DICTIONARY  OF  RHYMES. 


denounce            renounce 

OURN  (see  ORN,  URN) 

pronounce 

OUND  * 

OURS 

bound                 around 

ours                     ores 

found                   compound 

moors                 stirs 

frown'd                confound 

cures 

ground                expound 
hound                 profound 
mound                propound 

The  plurals  of  nouns  and    the 
third   person  singular  of    verbs    in 
our,  oii'er  ;  as  hours,  towers,  devours. 

pound                 rebound 

round                  resound 

OURSE(j«?ORSE) 

sound                  surround 

wound  (to  wind)  wound  (woond) 

OUS  (see  US) 

abound               moarid 

aground 

OUSE  compare  OWSE 

OUNT 

chouse                nous  f 

count                  miscount 
fount                   remount 

dowse                 rouse 
grouse                spouse 

mount                 surmount 

house                  use 

account              want 

louse                   noose 

amount              punt 

mouse 

discount             dorft 

OUT  t  . 

dismount 

bout                    stout 

OUP  (see  OOP) 

clout                    tout 
doubt                  trout 

OUR  compare  OOR,  ORE 

drought              about 
gout                    devout 

bower                 tower 

grout                   misdoubt 

dower                  deflower 

out           t          redoubt 

cower                 devour 

pout                     throughout 

flour                    mower 

rout                      without 

hour                    pour 

scout                   boat 

lour                     poor 

shout                   vote 

power                 pure 

snout                   lute 

scour                  her 

spout                   boot 

sour 

sprout 

*  Hope  that  blessed  me,  bliss  that  crowned, 
Love,  that  left  me  with  a  wound, 
Life  itself,  that  turneth  round. — E.  B.  Browning. 

f  The  Greek  word  for  mind,  understanding  ;  expressively  used  to  imply 
common  sense,  tact,  gumption. 

\ His  ears  alone  pricked  out : — 

Each  one  pointing  to  his  throat. — E.  B.  Browning. 


DICTIONARY  OF  RHYMES. 


OWt  compare  OO 
As  in  LOW 

trow 

below 

bestow 

billow 

callow 

fallow 

foreknow 

pillow 

sallow 

shallow 

swallow 

wallow    \ 

willow 

window 

winnow 

yellow 

outgrow 

overflow 

overthrow 

As  in  NOW 
brow 


*  The  low  cares  of  the  mouth, 
The  trouble  uncouth. 

K.  Browning. 
I   And  such  is  Nature's  law  divine,  that  those 

Who  grow  together  cannot  choose  but  love, 
If  faith  or  custom  do  not  interpose, 
Or  common  slavery  mar  what  else  might  move 
All  gentlest  thoughts,  as  in  the  sacred  grove,  &c. 

Shelley. 

\  That  mocks  the  tear  it  forced  tofloiv- 
Amid  severest  woe. 

Gray. 

To  paint  with  Thomson's  landscape  glow, 
Or  wake  thy  bosom-melting  throe 
With  Shenstone's  art. 

Burns. 

I  know  not  yet  was  it  a  dream  or  no, — 
In  hues  which,  when  through  memory's  waste  they/Zcw, 
Make  their  divided  streams  more  bright  and  rapid  now. 

Shelley. 

The  shadows  flicker  to  and  fro, 
The  crioket  chirps,  the  light  burns  low. 

Tennyson. 


OUTH*                                 O 

drouth 

truth 

mouth 

youth 

blow 

south 

smooth 

bow 

mouth 

crow 

(the  verb,  which  has  no  rhyme) 

ilow 

glow 

OVEf 

grow 

AsmioVE                       .know 

Inur 

dove 

shove 

mow 

glove 

above 

owe 

love 

row 

As  in  PROVE 

sew 

move 

disprove 

sow 

groove 

disapprove 

show 

prove 

improve 

slough 

approve 

reprove 

slow 

As  in  WOVE] 

snow 

clove 

strove 

stow 

drove 

throve 

strovv 

grove 

wove 

throw 

hove 

alcove 

rove 

behove 

bough 

stove 

interwove                 bow 

DICTIONARY  OF  RHYMES. 


cow 

frau 

how 

now 

plough 

prow 

row 


sow 

thou 

vow 

allow 

avow 

endow 

disallow 


OWL  compare  OLE 

The  sounds  of  owl  in  bowl  and 
howl,  and  of  ole  in  hole  are  so  similar 
as  to  be  allowed  to  pass  as  almost  j 
perfect  rhymes. 


bowl 

scowl 

cowl 

soul 

fowl 

toll 

ghoul 

troll 

growl 

control 

howl 

enrol 

owl 

patrol 

poll 

hole 

prowl 

dull 

roll 

fool 

OWN  *  compare  ONE 

The  sounds  of  own  in  blown 
and  frown,  and  of  one  in  stone  are  so 
similar  as  to  be  allowed  to  pass  as 
almost  perfect  rhymes. 


blown 

shown 

brown 

strewn 

clown 

thrown 

crown 

town 

down 

adown 

drown 

embrown 

frown 

renown 

gown 

tone 

mown 

dawn 

noun 

nooji 

own 

OWSK 

blowze  t  trouse 

browse  carouse 

house  (verb)      espouse 
rouse  hose 

spouse  those 

touse 

*  Also  the  plurals  of  some  nouns 
and  the  3rd  person  singular  of  verb  ; 
in  on' ;  as,  brows,  allows. 


OX 

box 
fox 

paradox 
heterodox 

ox 

oaks 

equinox 
orthodox 

sucks 

Also  the  plurals  of  nouns,  and 
the  3rd  person  singular  of  verbs  in 
ock  ;  as,  cocks,  mocks. 

OY 


boy 

annoy 

buoy 

convoy 

cloy 

decoy 

coy 

destroy 

joy 

employ 

toy 

enj  oy 

alloy 

sepoy 

OZH  (>*OSE) 

U  (see  EW) 

Perhaps  no  one  of  our  vowels- 
is  so  frequently  mispronounced  as 
the  i(,  especially  in  the  north  of 
England.  The  rapid  repetition  of 
such  a  short  list  of  words  as  put,  but, 
pulpit,  sugar,  understood,  will  be 
found  to  be  almost  an  invariable 
shibboleth  for  the  detection  of  York- 
shire and  Lancashire  men. 


*  When  I  contemplate  all  alone 
To  which  thy  crescent  would  have  grown.— Tennyson. 

f  Cognate  with  blush :  a  ruddy,  fat-faced  wench. 

Sweet  blowze,  you  are  a  beauteous  blossom,  sure. — Shakspere. 


DIC770NARY  OF  RHYMES. 


UCK 


chub 

shrub                        buck 

suck 

club 

slub 

duck 

truck 

cub 

snub 

luck 

tuck 

drub 

tub 

muck 

book 

dub 

hubbub*                   pluck 

duke 

grub 

beelzebub                 struck 

hub 

tube 

rub 

rob 

UCT 

IJBK 

suck'd 

obstruct 

cube 
tube 

jujube 

tub 

conduct 
duck'd 
deduct 

aqueduct 
viaduct 
hoofrd 

instruct 

puk'd 

UCK 

deuce 

induce 

UDf 

goose 
juice 
moose 

misuse 
obtuse 
produce 

blood 
bud 
could 

rud 
wood 
would 

puce 
sluice 
spruce 
truce 
use  (noun) 
abuse 
obstruse 
conduce 
deduce 

propose 
recluse 
reduce 
seduce 
traduce 
introduce 
noose 
news 
dose 

cud 
flood 
good 
hood 
mud 
scud 
should 
stood 

ctnrl 

brotherhood 
likelihood 
neighbourhood 
understood 
widowhood 
rood 
rtidt 
ode 

disuse  (noun 

)     rose 

5LUU 

excuse 

UCH 

UDE 

compare  UD  \ 

crutch 

touch 

brood 

prude 

much 

retouch 

crude 

nude 

hutch 

pitch                        feud 

rood 

such 

;   lewd 

rude 

A  universal  hubbub  wild. — Milton. 
'Tis  winter  cold  and  rude, 
Heap,  heap  the  warming  n-ood. — Cowper. 

Enjoying  each  the  other's  good  : 
What  vaster  dream  can  hit  the  mood 
Of  love  on  earth  ? — Tennyson. 

Then  the  multitude, 

And  I  among  them,  went  in  joy — a  nation 
Made  free  by  love, — a  mighty  brotherhood. — Slielley. 


DICTIONARY  OF  RHYMES. 


UE  (see  EW,  OO) 


UFF 

rough 

ruff 

slough 

snuff 

stuff 

tough 

enough 

rebuff 

counterbuff 

loaf 


UG 

rug 
shrug 
slug 
smug  § 
snug-  . 
tug 

humbug 
rogue 


UICE^OOSE 


*  Humorously  defined  in  its  double  sense  as  "a  thing  that  holds  a 
lady's  hands  without  squeezing  them." 

f  This  word  is  of  Celtic  origin,  and  signifies  a  ghost,  a  hobgoblin,  as  we 
still  have  it  in  bugbear. 

Tush,  tush,  fright  boys  with  b^^gs. — Shakspere. 

In  Matthew's  Bible,  published  1539,  Psalm  xci.  is  rendered,  "Thou 
shalt  not  be  afraid  for  any  bugs  by  night."  In  the  Authorised  Version  the 
word  terror  is  substituted.  This  word  was  not  applied  to  the  troublesome 
house  pest  till  late  in  the  seventeenth  century. 

I  The  ear  (North  dialect),  to  drag  or  pull  by  the  ear. 

I'm  as  melancholy  as  a  lugg'd  bear. — Shakspere. 
But  let  me  whisper  i'  your  lug, 
Ye're  aiblins  nae  temptation. 

Burns. 

§  Smart,  spruce,  trim. 
A  smug  bridegroom. 
A  beggar  that  used  to  come  so  smug  upon  the  mart. — Shakspere. 


snood 

lassitude 

t 

allude 

latitude 

conclude 

longitude 

delude 

magnitude 

elude 

multitude 

exclude 

platitude 

bluff 

exude 

plenitude 

buff 

include 

promptitude 

chough 

intrude 

servitude 

chuff 

obtrude 

solitude 

cuff 

protrude 

beatitude 

gruff 

seclude 

ingratitude 

huff 

altitude 

inaptitude 

luff 

aptitude 

similitude 

muff* 

attitude 

solicitude 

puff 

fortitude 

vicissitude 

gratitude 

hood 

habitude 

bud 

interlude 

could 

Also    the 

preterites    of    some 

bugf 

verbs  in  ew  ;  as  view'd. 

drug 

dug 

UDGE 

hug 

jug 

budge 

sludge 

lugt 

drudge 

smudge 

mug 

fudge 

trudge 

Pug 

grudge 

adjudge 

judge 

prejudge 

nudge 

DICTIONARY  OF  RHYMES. 


367 


UISE  (set 

?ISE,  OOZE) 

UIT 

(see  UTE) 

UKE 

duke 

rebuke 

fluke 

cook 

puke 

hook 

chibouque 

UL 

,  ULL  * 

bull 

brimful 

cull 

careful 

dull 

dreadful 

full 

faithful 

gull 
hull 

grateful 
thoughtful 

lull 

beautiful 

mull 

bountiful 

null 

dutiful 

pull 

fanciful 

skull 

merciful 

trull 

sorrowful 

wool 

wonderful 

annul 
awful 

worshipful 
fool 

bashful 

rule 

ULE  compare  OOL 

mule  ridicule 

pule  vestibule 

yule  fool 

ferule  rule 

reticule  full 


bulge 
divulge 


bulk 
hulk 


gulp 
pulp 


pulse 

convulse 

expulse 


cult 

adult 

consult 

exult 

indult 

insult 


chum 

come 

crum 

crumb 

drum 

dumb 


ULGE 
indulge 

ULK 

skulk 
sulk 

ULP 

sculp 

ULSE 

impulse 
insulsef 
repulse 

ULT 

occult 

result 

catapult 

difficult 

bolt 

vault 

UMt 

glum 

gum 

hum 

mum 

mumm  § 

numb 


*  Fear  most  to  tax  an  honourable  fool, 

Whose  right  it  is  uncensured  to  be  dull. — Pope. 
f  Obsolete.     Dull,  stupid. 

Insulse  and  frigid  affectation. — Milton. 
\  The  doom 

Is  this,  which  has,  or  may,  or  must  become 
Thine,  and  all  mankind's.     Ye  are  the  spoil 
Which  time  thus  makes  for  the  devouring  tomb. — Shelley. 
Mumm,  to  mask,  to  act  or  sport  in  disguise;  hence,  mummer, mummery. 
Mum,  silent,  and  silence.     ''Mum's  the  word." 

The  citizens  are  mum. — Shakspere. 


368 


DICTIONARY  OF  RHYMES. 


plum 

millennium                lump 

stump 

scum 

minimum 

plump 

thump 

slum 

opium 

pump 

trump 

sum 

overcome 

rump 

swum 

pendulum 

thrum 
thumb 

quarrelsome 
solatium 

UN 

compare  ON  * 

become 

troublesome 

done 

tun 

gruesome 

auditorium 

dun 

won 

gypsum 

crematorium 

gun 

begun 

handsome 

delirium 

none 

boatswain 

hansom 

gymnasium 

nun 

coxswain  € 

humdrum 

encomium 

one 

undone 

laudanum 

interregnum 

pun 

comparison 

phantom 

memorandum 

run 

garrison 

succumb 

opprobrium 

shun 

onion 

winsome 

palladium 

son 

skeleton 

asylum 

pandemonium 

spun 

union 

burdensome 

residuum 

stun 

don 

cumbersome 

symposium 

sun 

tune 

frolicsome 

fume 

ton 

tone 

humoursome 

rheum 

mausoleum 

tomb 

maximum 

hecatomb 

UNCE 

unce 

sconce 

UME  compare  OOM 

once 

fume 
plume 

resume 
volume 

UNCH 

assume 

doom 

bunch 

munch 

consume 

tomb 

crunch 

punch 

deplume 

comb 

hunch 

scrunch 

perfume 

come 

lunch 

presume 

UND 

UMP 

fund 

'    refund 

bump 

frump 

shunn  d 

moribund 

clump 

jump                       I    stunn'd 

hound 

When  thus,  not  rising  from  his  lofty  tlirone, 
In  state  unmov'd,  the  king  of  men  begun. 
Dry  den. 

But  no  power  to  seek  or  shun, 
He  is  ever  drifted  on. 

Shelley. 


DICTIONARY  OF  RHYMES. 


369 


UNE 

compare  OON 

hewn 

importune 

tune 

SOOJl 

jejune 

sun 

untune 

UNO 

bung 

stung 

clung 

sung 

dung 

swung 

flung 

tongue 

hung 

wrung 

rung 

young 

slung 

among 

sprung 

unsung 

strung 

song 

UNGE 

lunge 

sponge 

plunge 

expunge 

UNK 

bunk 

shrunk 

chunk 

skunk 

drunk 

slunk 

funk* 

spunk  f 

hunk 

stunk 

junk 

sunk 

monk 

trunk 

punk 

• 

UNT 

blunt 

hunt 

brunt 

runt  \ 

front 

wont 

grunt 

UP 


cup 
dup  § 
pup 
sup 
hiccough 


stirrup 

syrup 

soap 

group 

dupe 


UPT 


abrupt 
corrupt 


curb 
herb 
verb 


supp'd 
interrupt 

UR  (see  ER) 

URB 

disturb 
suburb 
orb 


URCH  Cro-ERCH) 


URD 


bird 

curd 

gird 

stirr'd 

word 

absurd 


cure 

dure 

ewer 

lure 

pure 


referred 
broad 
cord 
cur*d 

ininr'd 


URE 


skewer 

abjure 

adjure 

allure 

azure 


*  Stench,  to  emit  a  stink.     Also,  as  slang,  to  turn  coward. 

f  Rotten  wood,  tinder.     Also  spirit,  mettle,  pluck  (vulgar). 

\  A  small  or  stunted  bullock  or  other  animal.  In  Scotland,  a  little  old 
woman. 

$  Dup,  to  do  up  ;  as  don,  to  do  on;  doff,  to  do  off;  to  open,  used  by 
Shakspere. 

B  B 


370 


DICTIONARY  OF  RHYMES. 


brochure 

conjure 

demure 

endure 

immure 

inure 

manure 

mature 

obscure 

ordure 

procure 

secure 

calenture 

coverture 

cynosure  H 


scurf 
serf- 


epicure 
forfeiture 
immature 
miniature 
overture 
portraiture 
sinecure 
investiture 
temperature 
primogeniture 
•poor 
sure 
cur 
fzirniture 


URF 

surf 
turf 


churl 
curl 


URGE  (see  ERGE) 
URK  (see  IRK) 

URL 

earl 
furl 


girl  twirl 

hurl  uncurl 


pearl 
purlf 


unfurl 


URLD 


world 

The  preterites  of  verbs  in  url , 
as,  furl'd,  hurl'd. 


URN  (see  ERN) 


URP 


chirp 
discerp 


extirp 
usurp 


URSE  (see  ERSE) 


URST 

burst  worst 

curst  accurst 

durst  vers'd 

first  dispers'd 

thrist  immers'd 


*  Literally,  a  dog's  tail.     A  name  of  the  constellation  Ursa  minor,  which 
contains,  in  the  tail,  the  Pole  star,  hence  a  centre  of  attraction. 

As  seamen  that  are  run 
Far  northward  find  long  winters  to  be  light, 
And  in  the  cynosure  adore  the  sun. 

Davenant. 

Where  perhaps  some  beauty  lies, 
The  cynosure  of  neighbouring  eyes. 

Milton. 

f  Contracted  from  purfle:  an  embroidered,  puckered  border;  a  drink 
made  of  hot  beer,  gin,  &c.     Also  to  flow,  to  murmur,  to  ripple. 
A  purling  stream. — Pope. 

From  his  lips  did  fly 

Thin  winding  breath,  which  purled  up  to  the  sky. 

Shakspere. 


DICTIONARY  OF  RHYMES. 


371 


URT 

(see  ERT) 

tyrannous           indigenous 

valorous              libidinous 

venomous           oleaginous 

US,  uub 

vigorous              magnanimous 

buss 
bus 

thus 
truss 

glutinous 
gluttonous 
hazardous 
hideous 

villainous           miraculous 
adventurous       necessitous 
adulteress          obstreperous 
ambiguous          odoriferous 

us 

humorous 

calamitous          omnivorous 

bulbous 
bumptious 
callous 
caucus 
cautious 

impetuous 
incubus 
infamous 
lecherous 
libellous 

cadaverous        pachydermatous 
calcareous          ridiculous 
cantankerous     solicitous 
diaphanous        somniferous 
fortuitous            thaumaturgus 

circus 

litigious 

gratuitous           victorious 

crocus 
discuss 

luminous 
marvellous 

harmonious        viviparous 
hilarious             vociferous 

focus 

mischievous 

hocus-pocus       ubiquitous 

gracious 
grievous 

mountainous 
mutinous 

idolatrous           unanimous 
ignis  fatuus        ungenerous 

heinous 

numerous 

impecunious      use 

litmus 

odious 

impetuous          loose 

mucus 
nervous 

odorous 
ominous 

ignoramus          dose 
incredulous       house 

nimbus 

omnibus 

pious 

overplus 

porous 

perilous 

rebus 

poisonous 

vicious 

ponderous 

USE 

amorous 

populous 

arquebuse 
bibulous 

prosperous 
pugnacious 

booze                  diffuse 
bruise                 disuse  (verb) 

blasphemous 

ravenous 

choose                excuse 

boisterous 

rigorous 

lose                     infuse 

clamorous 

riotous 

muse                   misuse 

credulous 

ruinous 

noose                  peruse 

curious 

scandalous 

ooze                     refuse 

dangerous 
delicious 

scrupulous 
sedulous 

ruse                    suffuse 
shoes                   transfuse 

dolorous 

serious 

use  (verb)           dose 

emulous 

slanderous 

abuse                  does 

fabulous 

sonorous 

accuse                buzz 

frivolous 

stimulus 

amuse                foes 

garrulous 

timorous 

Also  the  plurals    of  nouns  and 

generous 

traitorous 

the  third  person  singular  of  verbs  in 

glorious 

treacherous 

ew  and  ue  ;  as  dews,  sues. 

372 


DICTIONARY  OF  RHYMES. 


USH 


blush 

brush 

bush 

crush 

flush 

frush 

gush 


butt 

cut 

glut 

gut 

hut 

jut 

nut 

rut 

scut 

shut 

slut 

smut 


hush 

lush 

push 

rush 

thrush 

tush 


USK 


soot 
strut 
abut 
gamut 
catgut 
englut 
rebut 
walnut 
foot 
boot 
lute 


UTCH 


clutch 
crutch 
hutch 
much 


such 
touch 
retouch 


UTE*  compare  GOT 


bruit 

refute 

brusque 
lusk 

musk 
tusk 

brute 
cute 

repute 
salute 

husk 

flute 

absolute 

TTCT                              fruit 

attribute 

UST 

lute 

constitute 

bust 

discuss'd 

mute 

contribute 

crust 
dust 

disgust 
distrust 

newt 
suit 

destitute 
dissolute 

just 

focuss'd 

acute 

execute 

lust 

locust 

compute 

institute 

must 

intrust                       confute 

parachute 

rust 

mistrust                 ;    Depute 

persecute 

thrust 

robust                       dllute 

prosecute 

trust 
adjust 

unjust 

dispute 
mpute 

resolute 
substitute 

minute 

boot 

pollute 

boat 

UT 

recruit 

but 

crux 
dux 
flux 
lux 


UX 

reflux 

oaks 

jokes 

cooks 


Also  the  plurals  of  nouns  and 
the  third  person  singular  of  verbs  in 
uck ;  as  trucks,  sucks. 


She  glanced  upwardly  mute  : 
My  own  wife  !  "  he  said,  and  fell  stark  at  her  foot. 

E.  B.  Browning. 


DICTIONARY  OF  RHYMES. 


373 


As  an  end  letter  y  has  two 
sounds,  the  long  I,  as  in  mile,  and 
the  short  *,  as  in  mill,  the  former 
rhyming  perfectly  with  such  words 
as  die,  sigh,  the  latter  allowably  with 
he,  see,  &c.  Both,  however,  are  used 
indiscriminately  by  all  our  poets; 
but  for  convenience'  sake,  lists  of 
words  of  the  two  sounds  are  given 
separately. 


ay 

buy 

cry 

die 

dry 

eye 

fie 

£* 

hie 

high 

lie 

nigh 

pie 

ply 

pry 

rye 


long,  as  in  eye, 

sigh 

sky 

sly 

spy 

sty 

thigh 

tie 

try 

vie 

why 

ally 

apply 

awry 

belie 

comply 

decry 


defy 

mortify 

deny 

multiply 

descry 
imply 

pacify 
petrify 

espy 

prophesy 

outvie 

purify 

outfly 

putrefy 

rely 

qualify 

reply 

ramify 

supply 

rarefy 

untie 

ratify 

amplify 
beautify 

rectify 
sanctify 

certify 

satisfy 

crucify 

scarify 

deify 

signify 

dignify 

simplify 

edify 

specify 

falsify 

stupefy 

fortify 

terrify 

fructify 

testify 

gratify 
glorify 

verify 
villify 

horrify 

vivify 

justify 

indemnify 

magnify 

intensify 

modify 

lullaby 

mollify 

solidify 

Here  shall  he  see 
No  enemy, 
But  winter  and  rough  weather. 

Shakspere. 

And  in  thy  right  hand  lead  with  thee, 
The  mountain  nymph,  sweet  Liberty. 

Milton. 
Suddenly 

She  would  arise,  and  like  the  secret  bird, 
Whom  sunset  wakens,  fill  the  shore  and  sky 
With  her  sweet  accents — a  wild  melody  .' 

Shelley. 

Dissolved  the  mystery 

Of  folded  sleep.    The  captain  of  my  dreams 
Ruled  in  the  eastern  sky. 

Tennyson. 

And  thou,  perchance,  art  more  than  /, 
And  yet  I  spare  them  sympaMy. 

Tennyson. 


374 


DICTIONARY  OF  RHYMES. 


Y  short,  as  ty  in  duty 


beauty 

kindly 

bonnie 

kingly 

brandy 

knightly 

busy 

lady 

comely 

lastly 

cosy 

lonely 

crazy 

lordly 

crusty 

lovely 

curly 

manly 

daily 

marry 

dainty 

meanly 

dally 

merry 

dandy 

misty 

doubly 

mouldy 

dreamy 

nasty 

duly 

neatly 

dusk 

nearly 

duty 

nobly 

empty 

noisy 

filly 

orgie 

gaily 

palmy 

gaudy 

palfrey 

ghastly 

paltry 

glory 

party 

gory 

parsley 

greedy 

pastry 

grumpy 

petty 

guilty 

pigmy 

happy 

poorly 

haughty 

portly 

hearty 

posy 

heavy 

pretty 

homely 

princely 

honey 

proudly 

hourly 

pulley 

humbly 

purely 

hungry 

queenly 

hurry 

quickly 

jaunty 

racy 

jetty 

rally 

jerky 

rarely 

jockey 

rosy 

jury 

rocky 

roughly 

lily 

ruby 

ruddy 

canopy 

rudely 

cavalry 

saintly 

charity 

saucy 

chastity 

scurvy 

chemistry 

singly 

chivalry 

simply 

clemency 

sleepy 

colony 

snappy 

comedy 

sorry 

company 

sunny 

constancy 

steady 

cosily 

strophe 

contrary 

study 

courtesy 

sweetly 
tally 

cruelty 
daintily 

tardy 

dairy 

thirsty 

decency 

trophy 
truly 

destiny 
diary 

trusty 

dignity 

twenty 

drapery 

u§iy 

drollery 

vainly 

drudgery 

vary 

ecstasy 

wary 

elegy 

weary 

embassy 

wealthy 

enemy 

whisky 

energy 

worthy 

equity 

academy 

eulogy 

agony 

euphony 

amity 

factory 

anarchy 

family 

apathy 

fallacy 

artery 

fealty 

augury 

fecundity 

battery 

finery 

beggary 

flattery 

bigamy 

foolery 

bigotry 

foolishly 

blasphemy 

gaiety 

botany 

gallantry 

bravery 

gallery 

bribery 

galaxy 

brevity 

granary 

calumny 

gravity 

Dl-CTIQNARY  OF  RHYMES. 


375 


haughtily 

poesy 

victory 

democracy 

history 

poetry 

villainy 

discovery 

honesty 

policy 

votary 

dishonesty 

idolatry 

potency 

watery 

dexterity 

industry 

poverty 

wearily 

disparity 

injury 

primary 

wantonly 

diversity 

infamy 

privacy 

womanly 

divinity 

infancy 

prodigy 

worthily 

dormitory 

infantry 

progeny 

absurdity 

doxology 

jollity 

prosody 

activity 

duplicity 

knavery 

purity 

adversity 

electricity 

laity 

quality 

affability 

emergency 

laxity 

quantity 

affinity 

enormity 

legacy 

raillery 

agility 

equanimity 

leprosy 

rectory 

alacrity 

eternity 

lethargy 

regency 

allegory 

etymology 

levity 

remedy 

ambiguity 

extempore 

liberty 

ribaldry 

anatomy 

extraordinary 

library 

rivalry 

animosity 

extremity 

livery 

robbery 

antiquity 

familiarity 

lottery 

royalty 

anxiety 

fatality 

loyalty 

salary 

apostasy 

fecundity 

lunacy 

sanctity 

apostrophe 

felicity 

majesty 

secrecy 

aristocracy 

ferocity 

malady 

simony 

astronomy 

fertility 

melody 

slavery 

austerity 

fidelity 

memory 
misery 

sorcery 
strawberry 

authority 
auxiliary 

freemasonry 
frivolity 

modesty 

subsidy 

aviary 

frugality 

monarchy 

surgery 

brevity 

futurity 

mummery 

symmetry 

calamity 

generosity 

mutiny 

sympathy 

capacity 

geography 

mystery 

symphony 

captivity 

geometry 

nicety 

tapestry 

catastrophe 

genealogy 

noisily 

tragedy 

complexity 

gravity 

novelty 

treachery 

concavity 

gratuity 

nunnery 

treasury 

confederacy 

hostility 

nursery 

trinity 

conformity 

hospitality 

penalty 

trumpery 

i    congruity 

humanity 

penury 

tyranny 

conspiracy 

humility 

perfidy 

urgency 

'    cosmography 

hypocrisy 

perjury 

unity 

'    credulity 

idiosyncrasy 

piety 

usury 

curiosity 

imaginary 

pillory 

vacancy 

customary 

immensity 

piracy 

vanity 

declivity 

immorality 

pleurisy 

verily 

deformity 

immortality 

376 


DICTIONARY  OF  RHYMES. 


immaturity 

immutability 

impartiality 

impecuniosity 

impetuosity 

impiety 

impossibility 

importunity 

impurity 

inability 

inaccuracy 

incapacity 

incivility 

inclemency 

incongruity 

inconsistency 

inconstancy 

indemnity 

inequality 

infidelity 

infinity 

infirmary 

inflexibility 

insanity 

instability 

integrity 

intensity 

liberality 

loquacity 

luminosity 


magnanimity 

malignity 

maturity 

mediocrity 

mendacity 

minatory 

minority 

monastery 

mortality 

municipality 

mutability 

nationality 

namby-pamby 

nativity 

necessary 

necromancy 

neutrality 

nobility 

nonconformity 

obesity 

obscurity 

opportunity 

partiality 

perfunctory 

perpetuity 

perplexity 

philosophy 

polyandry 

polygamy 

pomposity 


preliminary 

priority 

probability 

prodigality 

profanity 

profundity 

propensity 

prosperity 

radically 

rapidly 

rascality 

reality 

reciprocity 

rotundity 

rudimentary 

satiety 

security 

seniority 

sensibility 

sensuality 

severity 

simplicity 

sincerity 

sobriety 

society 

solemnity 

solidity 

soliloquy 

sovereignty 

sublimity 


supremacy 
stupidity 
shilly-shally 
tautology 
tenacity 
temerity 
temporary 
theology 
theosophy 
timidity 
tranquillity 
transparency 
trigonometry 
unanimity 
ubiquity 
uncertainty 
uniformity 
university 
unparliamentary 
vacuity 
validity 
variety 
veracity 
verbosity 
vicinity 
virginity 
visibility 
vivacity 
volubility 


*  Affected,  finical. 

Another  of  Addison's. favourite  companions  was  Ambrose  Phillips,  a 
good  Whig  and  a  middling  poet,  who  had  the  honour  of  bringing  into  fashion 
a  species  of  composition  which  has  been  called,  after  his  name,  namby- 
pamby. — Macaulay. 


PRINTED    KV    J.    S.    YlKIUii    AM 


•J.  .;,    i  1T\     RUAD,    LONDON. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 
BERKELEY 


Return  to  desk  from  which  borrowed. 
This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


MAS     16  1S48 


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